288 



ENTOMOLOGY 



composed is manufactured from weather-worn shreds of wood, which 

 are torn off by the mandibles and then masticated with a secreted fluid 

 which cements the paper and makes it waterproof. 



A solitary queen founds the colony in spring; she starts the nest, 

 lays eggs, feeds the young and brings forth the first workers; these then 

 relieve her continue the building operations, collect food, nurse the 

 young; in short, assume the burden of the labor. In the latter part of 

 summer, fertile males and females appear and pairing occurs. Though 

 the statement has- of ten been made that only the young queens survive 



1 



FIG. 288. Nest of wasp, Vespa maculata. A, outer aspect; B, with envelope cut away to 

 show combs. Greatly reduced. 



the winter, there is some reason to believe that not only the queens but 

 also males and workers may hibernate successfully in the nest. 



The larvae are fed at first, by regurgitation, upon the sugary nectar 

 of flowers and the juices of fruits, and later upon more substantial food, 

 such as the softer parts of caterpillars, flies, bees, etc., reduced to a pulp 

 by mastication; occasionally wasps steal honey from bees. 



The workers, as is usual among social Hymenoptera, are modified 

 females, incapable of reproduction as a rule, though the distinction be- 

 tween worker and queen is not nearly so sharp among wasps as it is 

 among bees. Worker eggs are said to be parthenogenetic and to pro- 

 duce only males. The males, unlike those of the honey bee, are active 

 laborers in the colony. In the tropics there are wasps that form per- 

 manent colonies, store honey and swarm, after the manner of honeybees. 



Polistes. The preceding description of Vespa applies equally well 

 to our several species of Polistes, except that the nest of Polistes is a 



