SOLITAEY WASPS. 



349 



second segment. This is another of the local insects which are 

 tolerably plentiful in their limited districts. Mr. Smith men- 

 tions Sandhurst and Sunning Hill as places where it may be 

 found in moderate numbers, and Weybridge as a place where 

 it has occurred sparingly. 



This insect is chietly remarkable for the vase-shaped nest 

 which it constructs from mud. These nests, or cells, are 



1. "Vespa crnbro, female. 2. Vespa vulgaris, female. 3. Halictus nibicundus, female. 



4. Dasypoila hirtipes, female. a. Vespa crabro, head of male. 6. Dasypoda, leg of male, 



c. Do., head of male. d. Halictus, head of male. e. Bo., abdomen of male. /. Vespa 

 vulgaris, head of male. jr. Vespa arboica, head. h. Vespa vulgaris, head of female. 



attached to the twigs of various plants, but especially to the 

 common heath, as is shown on Plate XI. In each of these 

 cells the mother-insect lays a single egg, and then provisions 

 the cell with the larvae of small Lepidoptera. 



Before parting with the Solitary Wasps, of which we have 

 so few British examples, we must mention a very interesting 



