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THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



"WASPS AND THEIR HABITS.' 



Editors American. Eiitomolo\fist : 



In reading the very interesting pupir on 

 " "Wasps and their Habits," in the March num- 

 ber of the Entomologist, on page 1-11, iirst col- 

 umn, I notice the following- paragrapli, in refer- 

 ence to those species belonging to the genus 

 Vespa, commonly called '' Yellow-Jackets." 



" Wc ourselves know but little of their econ- 

 omy, save that all the species with wliich we are 

 uci]uainted, build their nests under ground like 

 the common wasp ( Ves^xt vulyaris), of Europe, 

 and none of them attach their nests to trees, as 

 do certain European species."' 



As nothing is said in the paper about any 

 other species attaching their nests to the 

 branches of trees, except the Bald-faced Hornet 

 ( Vesjm maculata) , and as the general reader 

 might be led to suppose that no other species in 

 this country does build such a nest ; allow nic to 

 say that in Pennsylvania, or at least in Lancas- 

 ter county, we h.ave a species of " Yellow- 

 Jacket" or '• Yellow Hornet "' ( Vesjm vulgaris, 

 American variety) which builds such nest, and 

 which is almost as common as the maculafa. 

 This insect is about the size of the common Yel- 

 low-Jacket {Vespa (jcrmanicd) , and the nest is 

 globular and about the size of an ordinary 

 man's list, and usually is attached to twigs, 

 about three or four feet from the ground. I se- 

 cured a nest and captured the whole family of 

 wasps that occupied it, last summer, in the 

 north part of this county, and liave taken (hem 

 frequently, as much as twenty years ago. It 

 however requires some adroit reconuoitering to 

 elude the watchful vigilance of these little 

 wasps, for I always found one of them at the 

 door, head outward, apparently " smelling dan- 

 ger." But I at length suddenly " charged on 

 their works" with two or three plies of soft wet 

 paper, about the size of my hand, which I clap- 

 ped over the hole, before the sentry could come 

 forth. I however soon found that it would not 

 take them long to work their way through the 

 paper, therefore I held a wide-mouthed collect- 

 ing bottle, containing a quantity of alcohol, 

 over the hole, which is at the lower end of the 

 nest, when the whole colony, very spitefully 

 and very hastily, precipitated themselves into 

 the alcohol, and thus were secured. 



Although Mr. Smith of the British Museum, 

 and M. De Saussuro contend that our vuhjaris 

 and (/ermanim are identical with the European 

 species, yet Mr. Norton thinks differently, or 

 did in 1862. U seetHs to me that the European 



species, which nests underground, and ours of 

 the same name which nests on branches of 

 trees, must be two distinct species. S. S. 11. 



EuiTOKiAL Hemakks.— Wc fully agree in the 

 opinion of Messrs. Norton and S. S. K., as to 

 our so-called vithjctn's being a distinct species 

 from the European wasp bearing that name, 

 provided that its habits are essentially different, 

 as appears to be tlie ease. It is immaterial, ac- 

 cording to our views, whether or not these two 

 wasps be externally uudistinguishablo. If their 

 habits be essentially different, then either their 

 external or else their internal organization must 

 be essentially diflerent; and upon either of 

 these two suppositions even the most rigid sys- 

 tematists would concede them to be specifically 

 distinct. Upon the same principle, we consider 

 the Seventeen-year Cicada and the Thirteen- 

 year Cicada to be specifically distinct, although 

 externally these two forms cannot be dis- 

 tinguished from one another. 



THE SOCIAL WASPS. 



In the March mimber of the Amekican Ento- 

 MOLOdisT is a valuable and nearly exhaustive 

 article on the " AVasps." I would like to add a 

 little information in regard to the Bald-faced 

 Hornet. The article in question mentions but 

 one species, but here we had two .at least, (he 

 past summer. I saw many of the nests of the 

 common species, and in a hollow log there was 

 a nest, the builders of which were about half the 

 size of the ordinary Bald-faced Hornet. Their 

 markings were the same, at least to the naked 

 eye, but they were no larger around the abdo- 

 men and thorax than the Yellow-Jacket, and 

 they wore much shorter. They were the only 

 ones of the kind I ever saw. I called the atten- 

 tion of several persons to the nest and its in- 

 mates, and no one had ever seen the species be- 

 fore. Their habits were apparently the same as 

 their larger relatives, except that I never saw 

 them try to catch the common liouso-fly as the 

 large Bald-faced Hornet will often do. 



On page 141 of the same number, you say the 

 Yellow-Jacket always builds under grouiul. 

 Here nearly all the nests we find are on (roes or 

 bushes. 1 found as many as twenty on this 

 farm, and but one of them was in the ground. 

 One nest was built near the roof of the granary, 

 on the inside of the building, about twelve feet 

 from the ground. It was sixteen inches in di- 

 ameter and twenty inches in length. This col- 

 ony was as large as a good swarm of beea, but 



