WORKER WASPS. 223 



qualities of both sexes, the tenderness and patience of the one, 

 and the bravery and activity of the other, seem to meet on 

 neutral ground ; be it noted, however, that this neutral ground, 

 so rich in every quality but that of productiveness, is, in fact, 

 female. 



Of this latter class are nearly all the Wasps with which we 

 are commonly acquainted, both those which, as stragglers, or 

 scouts, appear through the earlier months of summer, and those 

 which, forming the main body, make their descent in August, or 

 more properly their ascent from underground barracks, to sap 

 our fruits, and invade our parlours and larders. Under this, 

 their characters of notorious depredators, we seem to have ar- 

 rived at a difficult point in the defence we have undertaken, 

 but even here we are not at fault for some most excellent 

 pleas in behalf of our maligned clients. That Wasps are 

 thieves there is no denying, but they are generous thieves. 

 They steal from us, and from qur pampered Honey-bees, not 

 merely to gratify a thievish or a greedy propensity, but with 

 a view to supply the wants of the helpless and poor of their 

 community. Not a grain of sugar, nor a drop of honey or of 

 peach -juice do they swallow, of which a portion is not dis- 

 gorged (bird-like) into the hungry mouths of their infant 

 population, while not a morsel of meat is pilfered, or a fly 

 carried off, of which the whole or part is not made over to the 

 younger and stay-at-home members of the horde. 



Bees as well as Wasps are sometimes robbers, and of a much 



