Prof. R. L. Edgeworth on Irish Vespide. 473 
nica is very common in Ireland. Its nest is generally to be 
found on some branch near the ground. It is particularly fond 
of building under the branches of young fir trees or in hawthorn- 
hedges. Of the peculiar situations in which this wasp is some- 
times to be found I give examples. I have twice seen it build 
in a Wren’s nest. Mr. Shuckard has found it in a Sparrow’s 
nest; and from various communications to the ‘ Naturalist,’ 
made at different times, it seems that it is not uncommon for it 
to build inside a beehive, the nest being suspended from the 
combs. In all these cases the hive-bees were finally overcome, 
though they continued sedulously collecting honey to the last. 
The nest of this insect is very beautiful. It is pear-shaped, of 
a bluish colour, with a few leaves occasionally attached to the 
outside to screen it from observation. The paper of which the 
nest is composed is of a very coarse structure. 
There is little very peculiar, as far as we as yet know, in the 
habits of this species. Dr. Ormerod, in an interesting paper in 
the ‘ Zoologist,’ distinctly proves that these wasps always keep 
a sentinel on duty. He observed that the oldest and most crip- 
pled of the wasps were appointed for this arduous post. Seve- 
ral years ago I suspended a nest of this species to the ceiling in 
my room, leaving the upper part of the window open, so that 
the wasps might have free access to the open air. Though there 
were few wasps at first, yet in a few days they became very nu- 
merous ; but such is the power which familiarity has in render- 
ing these animals tame, that I was never stung. These wasps 
used to go to sleep as soon as the sun set, and were up at the 
first dawn of light. When taking this nest from its original 
position, I shook most of the wasps out, and two or three days 
afterwards I found that they had built a new nest for themselves 
in the same position. This new nest contained no cells, and 
was simply a round globe, composed of thick walls of paper. 
Four times I destroyed the posthumous nest, and four times 
they rebuilt it. Now, though V. vulgaris will obstinately cling 
to the spot where its cells were, yet I have never known it to 
attempt to restore its nest. 
V. sylvestris, or the Campanular Wasp, is, I believe, pretty 
common in many parts of this country. The appearance 
of the nest is very distinctive, being of a pale colour and of 
small size. The folds of paper cover each other very evenly, 
like flounces. It builds under dense masses of foliage and 
under the thatch of houses, or, in point of fact, in any well-pro- 
tected situation. There is very little remarkable about its habits, 
except that it stings with extreme severity when disturbed. 
Such is the imperfect outline of the history of the Irish Ves- 
pide. The subject is full of the deepest interest. Our know- 
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.3. Vol. xii. 31 
