HYMENOPTERA. 255 
twenty to thirty cells, those on the sides being the smallest. It 
is usually attached to the branch of a shrub. 
Sometimes again the abdomen is ovoid or conical, as in 
P. nidulans; Vespa nidulans, Fab.; Guépe cartonnieére, 
Reaum., Insect., VI, xx, 1,3, 4; xxi, 1; xxii—xxiv. Small, of 
a silken black with yellow spots; posterior margin of the abdo- 
minal annuli of the same colour. Its nest, which is suspended 
to branches of trees by a ring, is composed of a fine material, and 
has the form of a truncated cone. The combs, of which the 
number augments in proportion to the population, and some- 
times gives a considerable size to the nest, are circular, but 
concave above and convex underneath, or infundibuliform and 
perforated with a circular hole. They are fixed to the internal 
parietes of the envelope throughout the whole of their circum- 
ference. The lower one is smooth beneath or destitute of cells; 
its opening is the door of the nest. As fast as the population 
increases, these Wasps form a new floor, and furnish the inferior 
surface of the old one with cells. 
In the remaining Wasps, the superior portion of the internal 
margin of their mandibles, that which comes after the angle, is as 
long as the other part, or longer. The middle of the anterior margin 
of their clypeus is widely truncated, and has a tooth on each side. 
The abdomen is always ovoidal or conical, They comprise the 
genus Vespa proper of Latreille. 
Vespa, Lat.* 
V.crabo, l.; Guépe frelon, Reaum., Insect., VI, xviii. Length 
one inch; head fulvous, with a yellow front ; thorax black, spot- 
ted with fulvous; rings of the abdomen blackish brown, marked 
with a yellow band dotted with two or three black points on its 
posterior margin. 
It builds its nest in sheltered localities, such as garrets, barns, 
holes in walls, and hollow trees. The nest is rounded, formed 
of a coarse material, and of the colour of a dead leaf. The 
combs, of which there are usually but few, are connected with 
each other by pillars or columns, the middle one much the 
thickest. The envelope is usually thick and friable. This 
species devours other Insects, particularly Bees, and robs the 
latter of their honey. 
V. vulgaris; G. commune, Reaum., Ibid., XIV,1,7. About 
eight lines in length; black; front of the head yellow, with a 
black point in the middle; several yellow spots on the thorax, 
and four on the scutellum ; a yellow band with three black spots 
on the posterior margin of the rings of the abdomen. 
It constructs in the earth a nest analogous to that of the crabo, 
but composed of a finer substance, and with more numerous 
combs. The columns which support them are equal. Its en- 
velope consists of several laminz, arranged.in bands, which 
overlap each other’s edges. 
* Lat., Gen, Crust. t Insect., IV, p. 142. 
