Thk First Pai hr-Makkr i6i 



minutes toi^ctlicr witliout sccinj^ ;it least two or 

 tliree wasps busily en^aj^ed in j4athcriii<^ its nectar. 

 Herb and insect have learned to accommodate 

 one another ; by mutual adaptation they liave 

 fitted each part of each to each in the most 

 marvellous detail. 



it is a peculiarity of the wasps, however, that 

 they are fairly omnivorous. Most of their cousins, 

 like the bees, have mouths adapted tf) honey-suck- 

 inj4 alone — mere tubes or suction-pumps, incapable 

 of biting throuj^h any hard substance. But the 

 wasp, with her hunj^ry lar<^e familv to keep, has 

 to be less particular about the nature of her food ; 

 she cannot afford to depend upon honey only. 

 Not only does she suck nectar ; she bites holes in 

 fruits, as we know to our cost in our j^ardens, to 

 di^ out the pulp ; and she has a perfect genius for 

 selecting the softest and sunniest side of an apricot 

 or a nectarine. She is not a strict vegetarian, either ; 

 all is hsh that comes to her net : she will iielp her- 

 self to meat or an.y other animal matter she can 

 fmd, and will feed her uncomplaining grubs upon 

 raw and bleeding tissue. Nay, more, she catches 

 tlies and other insects as they flit in the sunshine, 

 saws off their wings with her sharp jaws, and carries 

 them off alive, but incapable of struggling, to feed 

 her own ever-increasing household. 



By-and-by the first grubs, which covered them- 

 selves in with silk in order to undergo their pupa 

 or chrysalis stage, develop their wings under cover, 

 and emerge from their cases as full-grown workers. 

 These workers, whose portrait you will Hnd on a 



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