84 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. 



tecture of this species of vespiary is, that it is 

 not horizontal, like those formerly described, but 

 nearly vertical. The reason appears to be that 

 if it had been horizontal, the cells must have 

 been frequently filled with rain ; whereas, in the 

 position in which it is placed, the rain runs off 

 without lodging. It is, besides, invariably placed 

 so as to face the north or the east, and conse- 

 quently is less exposed to rains, which most fre- 

 quently come with southerly or westerly winds. It 

 is another remarkable peculiarity, that unlike the nests 

 of other wasps, it is covered with a shining coat of 

 varnish, to prevent moisture from soaking into the 

 texture of the wasp's paper. The laying on this 

 varnish, indeed, forms a considerable portion of the 

 labour of the colony, and individuals may be seen 

 employed for hours together spreading it on with 

 their tongues. 



Few circumstances are more striking with regard 

 to insects, as Kirby and Spence justly remark, than 

 the great and incessant labour which maternal 

 affection for their progeny^ leads them to undergo. 

 Some of these exertions are so disproportionate to 

 the size of the insect, that nothing short of ocular 

 conviction could attribute them to such an agent. A 

 wild bee, or a wasp, for instance, as we have seen, 

 will dig a hole in a hard bank of earth some inches 

 deep, and five or six times its own size, labouring un- 

 remittingly at this arduous task for several days in 

 succession, and scarcely allowing itself a moment for 

 eating or repose. It will then occupy as much time 

 in searching for a store of food ; and no sooner is 

 this finished, than it will set about repeating the pro- 

 cess, and before it dies, wUl have completed five or 

 six similar cells, or even more. 



We shall have occasion more particulaily to dwell 



