Vespid.*;.- 



-INSECTS. 



-CojiMox Wasp. 



191 



The Odijnerus crassicornis is one of the most local 

 of the British species. It has been taken near Darenlh 

 wood in Kent. Mr. Westwood has observed it near 

 Paris, carrying the larva of the beetle named Chryso- 

 mela populi, to its nest. 



In the family Masarid^ the antennae are widely 

 separated, and they appear to be composed of only 

 eicjlit joints. On Plate 7, fig. G, is represented a species 

 of this family, Celonites apiformis. 



Family— VESPID.^ {Wasps ami Hornets). 



The Social Wasps or Vespid.e — so called from 

 the typical genus Vespa, are thus characterized. The 

 fore wings are folded longitudinally, and have three 

 complete submarginal cells, the second receiving both 

 the recurrent nervures. The eyes are kidney-shaped, 

 and on the side of the head they extend to or nearly 

 reach the base of the mandibles. The claws of the 

 tarsi are simple. The societies consist of males, females, 

 and workers. 



The insects of this family are pre-eminent as archi- 

 tects. The endless variety of form, the dill'erent mate- 

 rials used by these industrious insects in the construc- 

 tion of their nests, and the various textures consequently 

 produced, cannot fail to strike the careful observer. 

 In this country, we have but one genus of the family 

 (^Vcspa), and of this genus there are eight indigenous 

 species. Their nests are works of great beauty ; and 

 when we examine the dillerences in the construction — 

 the adaptation of the nest to the circumstances likely 

 to ensue in the various situations in wliich we find 

 them — we are astonished at tlie amount of intelligence 

 displayed. 



The originator of a wasp's nest is a single individual, 

 a female, which has passed the winter in a torpid state, 

 and has been aroused from lethargy by the genial 

 warmth of spring. She first seeks for a site in which 

 to lay the foundation of her vesparium ; possession 

 being the title-deed by which she and her progeny 

 hold it, and a formidalile array of stings being the 

 defence of the nest from foreign aggression. Tlie 

 female, then, having found a hole in a place adapted 

 to lier purpose, proceeds to enlarge it, and to form a 

 subterranean chamber of suitable space. vSlie then 

 collects materials for the foundation. This foundation 

 is formed of raspings and scrapings of wood ; having 

 got together some of this material, she first forms a 

 footstalk strong enough to support the first two or 

 three layers of cells ; at the end of this footstalk she 

 forms three cup-shaped receptacles ; these are reversed, 

 hanging like a bell, and are each about one-tenth of 

 an inch in depth. Over the Ibundation cells the wasp 

 now places a covering like an umbrella ; she deposits 

 an egg in each cup, and then proceeds to form addi- 

 tional cells, depositing an egg in each as soon as it is 

 constructed. The first eggs are by this time hatched, 

 and the j'oung larva; require some of her attention. 

 These larvae grow rapidly, and as they grow, the 

 mother wasp from time to time adds to the walls of 

 their cells ; the cells of the foundation comb are never 

 carried up higher than the length of the laiTEE. As it 

 grows day by day, the female wasp adds a fresh course 



of wall until the grub is full grown, when it covers 

 itself in by spinning a convex cap to its cell, of a 

 light-coloured, tough, silky texture. " The angles of 

 the planes of the hexagons are determined by the points 

 of contact of the circular bases ; from tliese the wasp 

 gradually commences the flattened sides of the hexa- 

 gons, at first a little curved ; but at a slight elevation, 

 the sides become perfectU' flattened planes, and as such, 

 are caiTied up to the required height. Thus the gradual 

 raising of the walls is as regular and jirogressive as 

 that of a bricklayer constructing hexagonal chimneys. 

 Each additional layer is laid upon the previous one, 

 which has had time to become hard and suitable for 

 supporti:ig the additional weight of wall required." 

 Wasps, however, do not at all times form cnp-shaped 

 foundations. Some Brazilian wasps of the genus Pohj- 

 bia, lay cup-shaped foundations for their first cells ; 

 bnt they construct a fiat roof as the comb increases 

 in dimensions. As soon as they have formed the first 

 comb, the species of Polybia begin to build upon the 

 flattened roof, "laying the hexagonal foundations at 

 once, sharp and angular, from the flattened roof. One, 

 two, three, or more planes are in different instances to 

 be seen, merely as it were chalked out by the slightest 

 amount of elevation possible." 



Three of the British wasps ( Vesjm arhorca, V. syl- 

 vesiris, and V. norvegica) build their nests in trees or 

 bushes, such as gooseberry bushes. The section con- 

 taining tliese, has the scape of the antennas yellow in 

 front, in all sexes. Their style of building corresponds 

 with that of the ground wasps, such as the V. vulgaris, 

 described above, but their texture is firmer. The nests 

 are consequently capable of resisting the ejects of 

 the wincl and rain, and the changes of temperature to 

 which they are liable to be exposed. 



The Social wasps are most courageous. They 

 seldom attack when unmolested ; so it would be well 

 for any one, should a wasp fly near them, not to wave 

 it away, but to take no notice of its presence, or to sit 

 quiet. Should any one attack their nest, the inmates 

 boldly defend their citadel, and resent all attempts 

 of the invader. From the much abused, and too 

 often cruelly treated wasp, we may learn an admirable 

 lesson of parental care, of courage in the defence of her 

 young brood, and of careful and cleanly housewifery ; 

 no particle of rubbish of any kind being snfl'ered to 

 strew her dwelling. The number of individuals which 

 compose the ditl'erent communities of wasps varies much. 

 Keaumur calculated thirty thousand as the number 

 likely to bo found in a populous community. The 

 celebrated French observer had estimated the entire 

 number of the cells St ten thousand, and supposed each 

 might have been the cradle of three larvse. 



THE COMMON WASP {Vespa vulgaris) generally 

 appears in tliis country in April. Mr. Smith once 

 saw a female flying at Hampstead on the l.Btlj Feb- 

 ruary, 18.59, when the weather was unusually mild. I 

 have a record of its early appearance in February near 

 Edinburgh, aboiit twenty-nine years ago, when first I 

 began to attend minutely to natural history. 



VESPA GEKMANICA is widely di.stributcd in Bri- 

 tain, though not so abundant as tlic preceding. 



VESPA EUTA, like tlie two preceding, is a ground 



