INSECTA—HORNET. 847 
ofa building. All the cells of the nests are only destined for the reception 
of the young, being replete with neither wax nor honey. 
Each cell is, like that of the bee, hexagonal; but there are two sorts, the 
one larger, for the production of the male and the female wasps, the other 
less, for the reception of the working part of the community. When the 
females are impregnated by the males, they lay their eggs one in each cell, 
and stick itin with a kind of gummy matter to prevent its falling out. 
From this egg proceeds the insect in its worm state, of which the old ones 
are extremely careful. But the wasp community differs from that of the 
bee in this; that among the latter, the working bees take the parental duties 
upon them, whereas, among the wasps, the females alone are permitted to 
feed their young, and to nurse their rising progeny. For this purpose the 
female waits with great patience till the working wasps have brought in 
their provisions, which she takes from them, and cuts into pieces. She 
then goes with great composure from cell to cell, and feeds every young one 
with her mouth. When the young worms have come to a certain size, they 
leave off eating, and begin to spin a very fine silk, fixing the first end to the 
entrance of the ceil; then turning their heads, first on one side, then on the 
other, they fix the thread to different parts, and thus they make a sort of 
door which serves to close up the mouth of the cell. After this, they divest 
themselves of their skins after the usual mode of transformation; the aurelia 
by degrees begins to emancipate itself from its shell; by little and little it 
thrusts out its legs and wings, and insensibly acquires the color and shape 
of its parent. 
THE HORNET! 

ls one of the largest and most remarkable species of the wasp. It 1s twice 
as large as the common wasp, and is also distinguished by a black breast, 

1 Vespa crabro, Lin. 
