470 Prof. R. L. Edgeworth on Irish Vespide. 
the dead it might have been conjectured that they were inten- 
tionally slain. But it should be recollected that all the wasps 
are hatched before the cold weather commences, and about the 
end of October no grubs will be found in the nest. I have 
carefully watched many times to observe this tragical dénoue- 
ment, but have hitherto been always quite unsuccessful. 
The love which wasps display both for their young and for 
the place of their birth is very remarkable. I have seen them 
linger for upwards of twenty days around some fragment of 
their cells when the nest itself had been carried away. Wasps 
very soon become familiarized with any animal or with man. I 
was only once stung, by all my wasps; and then it was because 
I went in the dark: and they were not in the least disturbed 
by my presence, or by my taking the glass cover off their nest. 
I remember, also, once having seen a field-mouse and a nest of 
wasps share a common hole, and the mouse used to go in and 
out with perfect impunity. Moreover the presence of other 
wasps does not disturb their equanimity. On one occasion | 
planted four colonies of wasps together, each in a separate com- 
partment, but with four minor holes opening into one large one, 
like four doors opening into a lobby. They all flourished mag- 
nificently; the wasps of each nest never mistook their own hole; 
and the most perfect equanimity and goodwill prevailed. Again, — 
I once bisected two nests and put the two halves of the dissimi- — 
lar nests together, and both halves were soon surrounded with a 
common shell and amalgamated into one nest. 
Mode of constructing the Nest.—The nest is originally con- — 
structed by one wasp, the queen, who, about the middle of April, — 
having selected a suitable spot, commences her labour thus:— _ 
From a fibre or stone she builds down a short pillar, to the end j 
of which are attached two or three ill-shaped cells; and this is 
surrounded by a single envelope of paper. I once had the — 
good fortune to seea nest in this state. This nest is constantly — 
enlarged by adding new layers to the outside, and by cutting — 
away the inner layers: All ground-wasps attach their nest to a 
fibre or some solid thing ; and in this respect their nest resembles — 
that of a tree-wasp, in being suspended from a single point, and 
not being touched by the surrounding earth. Moreover the 
concave surrounding walls of earth are always lined with a pa- 
rietal layer of paper independent of the covering of the nest, so _ 
that the nest can be taken out quite perfect, leaving this behind. 
The material of which the nest is built varies, and is, in point of © 
fact, very characteristic of each species of wasp. V. vulgaris 
generally uses very rotten wood, and, as far as my observation — 
goes, practically and microscopically, generally coniferous. ¢ 
have frequently observed the workers cutting wood or palings, ; 
