316 POPULAR ENTOMOLOGY. 



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

 black, marked with yellow ; wings longitudinally folded. 



VESPA VULGARIS, the Common Wasp, has the antennse, 

 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 Vespidce is divided into Vespa, or true Wasps, 

 and Odynerus, comprising the solitary species ; of the former, 

 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 



