88 STUDIES IN INSECT LIFE, ETC. 



but soon they also perish. The nest begins to 

 crumble, and so the ruins of what was the home 

 of one of the most highly organised of insect 

 communities serve but to house field mice, ear- 

 wigs, mites, beetles and woodlice. Seen under a 

 diminishing glass 



" the Lion and the Lizard keep 

 The Courts where Jamshyd gloried and drank deep." 



It thus comes about that the whole wasp pro- 

 toplasm (living matter) is throughout the winter 

 months tucked away in the bodies of the queens 

 which are hanging by their teeth in some remote 

 crannie. In her body, and in her body alone, 

 is the potentiality of the wasp's nest, and should 

 she perish next year's wasps' nest perishes with 

 her. This, indeed, often happens, especially dur- 

 ing a mild winter with snaps of really cold weather. 

 The dormant queen is little affected by cold, 

 and can survive many degrees of frost, but if 

 the temperature rises unduly she is apt to think 

 the spring is at hand, to wake up and all too 

 soon to resume an active life. In this condition 

 a fall of temperature, which would leave her 

 unaffected were she dormant, quickly brings 



