116 POPULAK ENTOMOLOGY. 



ened at the tip ; mandibles short ; body smooth and polished, 

 generally black, marked with yellow ; wings longitudinally folded. 



VESPA VTJLGAEJS, the Common Wasp, has the antennae, 

 head, and thorax black, marked with yellow ; body yellow, 

 with the base of the segments, and a spot on each, black. 



VESPA CRABRO, the Hornet, is much larger than the 

 common Wasp, of a rich brown, with dark markings ; the 

 head and body buff, spotted with brown. 



The family Fespid^e is divided into Vespa, or true "Wasps, 

 and Odynerus, comprising the solitary species ; of the for- 

 mer, the Hornet is the largest of the species, and its sting 

 is a formidable instrument of defence. The nest of this 

 insect is of similar construction to that of the common Wasp, 

 though of coarser materials, and the columns supporting the 

 rows of cells are much stronger ; it is constructed either in 

 the hollows of trees, the thatch of barns, or in timber- 

 yards. It is difficult to obtain a sight of their nests while 

 building, for should the aperture be too large, they erect 

 a wall of the same material as the cells, which is described 

 by some naturalists as decayed wood, by others, as the bark 

 of trees gnawed to pieces and moistened with a sticky fluid, 

 which the insects have the power of emitting. With this 

 they make a kind of pasteboard, thicker than that of the 



