Prof. R. L. Edgeworth on Irish Vespidae. 473 



rdca is very common in Ireland. Its nest is generally to be 

 found on some branch near the ground. It is particularly fond 

 of building under the branches of young fir trees or in hawthorn- 

 hedges. Of the peculiar situations in which this wasp is some- 

 times to be found I give examples. I have twice seen it build 

 in a Wren's nest. Mr. Shuckard has found it in a Sparrow's 

 nest ; and from various communications to the ' Naturalist,' 

 made at different times, it seems that it is not uncommon for it 

 to build inside a beehive, the nest being suspended from the 

 combs. In all these cases the hive-bees were finally overcome, 

 though they continued sedulously collecting honey to the last. 

 The nest of this insect is very beautiful. It is pear-shaped, of 

 a bluish colour, with a few leaves occasionally attached to the 

 outside to screen it from observation. The paper of which the 

 nest is composed is of a very coarse structure. 



There is little very peculiar, as far as we as yet know, in the 

 habits of this species. Dr. Ormerod, m an interesting paper in 

 the ' Zoologist,' distinctly proves that these wasps always keep 

 a sentinel on duty. He observed that the oldest and most crip- 

 pled of the wasps were appointed for this arduous post. Seve- 

 ral years ago I suspended a nest of this species to the ceiling in 

 my room, leaving the upper part of the window open, so that 

 the wasps might have free access to the open air. Though there 

 were few wasps at first, yet in a few days they became very nu- 

 merous ; but such is the power which familiarity has in render- 

 ing these animals tame, that I was never stung. These wasps 

 used to go to sleep as soon as the sun set, and were up at the 

 first dawn of light. When taking this nest from its original 

 position, I shook most of the wasps out, and two or three days 

 afterwards I found that they had built a new nest for themselves 

 in the same position. This new nest contained no cells, and 

 was simply a round globe, composed of thick walls of paper. 

 Four times I destroyed the posthumous nest, and four times 

 they rebuilt it. Now, though V. vulgaris will obstinately cling 

 to the spot where its cells were, yet I have never known it to 

 attempt to restore its nest. 



y. stjlvestris, or the Campanular Wasp, is, I believe, pretty 

 common in many parts of this country. The appearance 

 of the nest is very distinctive, being of a pale colour and of 

 small size. The folds of paper cover each other very evenly, 

 like flounces. It builds under dense masses of foliage and 

 under the thatch of houses, or, in point of fact, in any well-pro- 

 tected situation. There is very little remarkable about its habits, 

 except that it stings with extreme severity when disturbed. 



Such is the imperfect outline of the history of the Irish Ves- 

 pida. The subject is full of the deepest interest. Our know- 



Ann. if Mag. N. Hist. Ser.3. Fb/. xiii. 31 



