STRAY NOTES ON ACULEATES. 149 



is the same. It had not occurred to me to refer the insect to 

 speciosa, because the only description of that species given by 

 Cresson is that of a female, and Eobertson had published the 

 opinion that it is a synonym of f rater. It is now evident that 

 frater can readily be distinguished from speciosa in the male by 

 the character of its spurs. 



Boiilder, Colorado : March 6th, 1905. 



STRAY NOTES ON ACULEATES. 

 By Percy E. Freke, F.E.S. 



I HAVE always found Vespa vulgaris more numerous than 

 other wasps. In some places V. germanica seems to be as abun- 

 dant or, indeed, more so, but this is, I believe, more apparent 

 than real, the latter coming much more into houses and shops 

 in search of sweets. At Tramore, Co. Waterford, it seemed to be 

 almost the only wasp in the town, but on examining the country 

 hedgerows, I found V. vulgaris maintained its numerical supe- 

 riority. V. germanica might well be called the "house-wasp," 

 or the "town-wasp," and V. vulgaris the " country-wasp." At 

 Borris, Co. Carlow, I examined many nests, and found that 

 V. vulgaris was responsible for 81 '5 per cent, of them, V. ger- 

 manica coming next, but a long way behind. There V. rufa and 

 V. sylvestris are about equally common, probably rather less so 

 than V. germanica, whereas about Dublin V. rufa is rare, and 

 V. sylvestris and V. norvegica (the last the least common at Borris), 

 are about equal, and F. germanica is about half as common as 

 vulgaris. In one place one seems more numerous, whereas in 

 another place the reverse is the case, but always vulgaris holds 

 the lead more or less. Why is this ? I believe because it is 

 the most "hardy" of our wasps. I have noticed it flying in 

 some numbers quite late in the season, when others of its genus 

 had ceased to appear weeks before, and I think it probable that 

 this character enables a larger proportion of females to survive 

 the winter. I believe vulgaris has also a larger family. Certain 

 it is that the males of this species are more commonly seen on 

 the wing in autumn than germanica even in the latter's most 

 favoured districts. 



With regard to the face-markings, I have found the females 

 and workers of germanica to vary more than vulgaris, and I 

 believe variation is by nests, and not individually. I examined 

 a nest of rather abnormally marked germanica, and found 

 80 per cent, of the workers were thus marked. In the normally 

 marked nests I found no abnormally marked individuals. 



Generally, wasps are very good-tempered, unless the nest 



