470 Prof. R. L. Edgeworth on Irish Vespidse. 



the dead it might have been conjectured that they were inten-^ 

 tionally slain. But it should be recollected that all the wasps 

 are hatched before the cold weather commences, and about the 

 end of October no grubs will be found in the nest. I have 

 carefully watched many times to observe this tragical denoue- 

 ment, but have hitherto been always quite unsuccessful. 



The love which wasps display both for their young and for 

 the place of their birth is very remarkable. I have seen them 

 linger for upwards of twenty days around some fragment of 

 their cells when the nest itself had been carried away. Wasps 

 very soon become familiarized with any animal or with man. I 

 was only once stung, by all my wasps ; and then it was because 

 I went in the dark : and they were not in the least disturbed 

 by my presence, or by my taking the glass cover off their nest. 

 I remember, also, once having seen a field-mouse and a nest of 

 wasps share a common hole, and the mouse used to go in and 

 out with perfect impunity. Moreover the presence of other 

 wasps does not disturb their equanimity. On one occasion 1 

 planted four colonies of wasps together, each in a separate com- 

 partment, but with four minor holes opening into one large one, 

 like four doors opening into a lobby. They all flourished mag- 

 nificently; the wasps of each nest never mistook their own hole; 

 and the most perfect equanimity and goodwill prevailed. Again, 

 I once bisected two nests and put the two halves of the dissimi- 

 lar nests together, and both halves were soon surrounded with a 

 common shell and amalgamated into one nest. 



Mode of constructing the Nest. — The nest is originally con- 

 structed by one wasp, the queen, who, about the middle of April, 

 having selected a suitable spot, commences her labour thus : — 

 From a fibre or stone she builds down a short pillar, to the end 

 of which are attached two or three ill- shaped cells ; and this is 

 surrounded by a single envelope of paper. I once had the 

 good fortune to see a nest in this state. This nest is constantly 

 enlarged by adding new layers to the outside, and by cutting 

 away the inner layers. All ground-wasps attach their nest to a 

 fibre or some solid thing ; and in this respect their nest resembles 

 that of a tree-wasp, in being suspended from a single point, and 

 not being touched by the surrounding earth. Moreover the 

 concave surrounding walls of earth are always lined with a pa- 

 rietal layer of paper independent of the covering of the nest, so 

 that the nest can be taken out quite perfect, leaving this behind. 

 The material of which the nest is built varies, and is, in point of 

 fact, very characteristic of each species of wasp. V. vulgaris 

 generally uses very rotten wood, and, as far as my observation 

 goes, practically and microscopically, generally coniferous. I 

 have frequently observed the workers cutting wood or palings. 



