218 On the Hornet. 



May observes that the giant inhabitants of the vespary live 

 in union with those of the apiary : but, fearing that the case 

 might be otherwise, when more hornets were produced, with a 

 view to limit their numbers, I pricked all the brood except three, 

 and part of the eggs with a pin. I supposed that the old hornet 

 would take no notice of this; but was surprised to find the nest 

 entirely forsaken. The following day I observed the hornet 

 near the spot, looking out for another place of settlement. I 

 kept the forsaken grubs alive for some time, by feeding them 

 with food obtained from the larva of wasps, by causing them to 

 reject it from their stomachs upon a feather. This I offered to 

 the young hornets, who devoured the fluid greedily. I tried 

 them with sugar, honey, and other sweet things, but nothing 

 succeeded like the food obtained from the young wasps. The 

 grubs grew till the cells could hardly contain them. With a 

 view to remedy this inconvenience, I lengthened the cells with 

 paper, but that did not answer the purpose ; the grubs fell out ; 

 and here ended my endeavours to rear hornets. 



There are two things in the above statement which may de- 

 serve notice ; the fierceness of the hornet after the brood came 

 forth, and the nest being afterwards forsaken. The fierceness 

 of the insect at that particular time is in accordance with what 

 appears to be an established law in other parts of the animal 

 kingdom. The common hen, when she has young, will attack 

 a mastiff. If the hornet's subsequently forsaking the brood ap- 

 pears inconsistent with her fierceness in defending it, we can 

 only conclude that insect affection is, after all, less powerful than 

 that of birds and quadrupeds. As it may be supposed that the 

 hornet perished by some accident, and that the second one I 

 observed was not the same insect, I may mention that I did the 

 same, in the next season, to another hornet, and widi the same 

 result; its nest was forsaken. 



I am not aware if entomologists have noticed a change in in- 

 sects when their brood comes forth ; and have no treatise to refer 

 to at present, except the work of Buffon, and a few extracts 

 from Reaumur. I find little worth notice in the former, who 

 repeats the ridiculous story that a hornet will attack and devour 

 a sparrow. The extracts from Reaunmr are on wasps; and he 

 gives some curious accounts how they feed their brood ; which 

 might lead one to suppose that his domesticated wasps, as they 

 are styled, had not the usual covering to their cells, or that 

 openings were made for inspection. This reminds me of a 

 thing which I never could discover; how hornets and wasps 

 enlarge the paper-like enclosure of their cells, which is properly 

 called the nest. For instance, the one of vvhich I have been speak- 

 ing, when first discovered, was about the size of half a pigeon's 

 egg; and if it had not been disturbed, it would probably have 



