34 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist. 



[Vol. XXV 



buffalo would come near enough to scent 

 this, there was a stampede for it and 

 the ones behind would literally climb 

 over the front ones and trample each 

 other to death. Prairie fires also were 

 the cause of many buffalo bones at the 

 bottom of cliffs, and it is well known 

 here that in the early days the Indians 

 themselves used to stampede lierds of 

 buffalo over the cliffs. '' 



This account of the behavior of western 

 cattle under the conditions described, and 

 the mass destruction of the buffalo wlien 

 acting under stampede excitement, gives 

 an insight into phases of animal behavior 

 which may have been a factor in the forma- 

 tion of some fossil bone beds. It may be 

 that the Alberta dinosaurs of Cretaceous 

 times wlien famine came, like the Alberta 

 cattle of today, sought a common dying 

 ground. 



E. M. Kindle. 



Vespula Diabolica. — During the past 

 summer (1920) Vespula diahoUca was ex- 

 tremely abundant in northern Frontenac 

 County, Ontario. In August and fSeptem- 

 l)er there were hundreds of this species 

 about ray camp at Lake Missanag, where 

 during the last four years only a few in- 

 dividuals had been present. Anything 

 sweet which was exposed even for a few 

 minutes became a rendez-vous for these 

 wasps and was soon a mass of buzzing black 

 and yellow. In the woods they were every- 

 where in evidence. From various sources 

 I have heard of the great abundance of 

 "hornets" in the northern districts of On- 

 tario during tbe past summer, and in all 

 proJjability these reports refer to the i)re- 

 sent species. 



The statements in the literature concern- 

 ing the nest of this species are conflicting. 

 According to Ashmead it nests in stumps. 

 Lutz, after describing the nests of Vespo 

 crabro and Vrspula maculata, says: " The 

 remainder of our species, the Yellow-jack- 

 ets, usually make smaller nests and place 

 them either near or under the ground. " 

 Plate 3 in "The Hymenoptera of Connec- 

 ticut" shows a small pai)er nest of this 

 species apparently attached to a beam. I 

 came across several nests of this si)ecies 

 and all were suspended from the limbs of 

 trees; they are large paper structures, and 



seem to be almost identical with those of 

 Vespula maculata. 



The larvae are 12 mm. long and 5 mm. in 

 diameter at the widest part, whitish in 

 colour, and hang head downwards, sus- 

 pended by the sticky disc at the posterior 

 end of the body. The pupae at first are 

 white, with black eyes; later the thorax 

 becomes dark, and the black bands appear 

 on the abdominal segments before the wings 

 have developed beyond the wing-pad stage. 

 Vespula diaholica exhibits a considerable 

 variation in size and marking. Different 

 individuals range from 13 to 16 mm. in 

 length. In some individuals the black 

 bands on the anterior portion of the ab- 

 dominal segments are very wide, in others 

 they are comparatively narrow. In some 

 the black point on the first abdominal 

 segment projects much further back than 

 in others, sometimes almost cutting the 

 yellow posterior border of that segment in 

 two. I found such a difference in respect 

 to marking that I sent three specimens to 

 Dr. L. 0. Howard for confirmation of 

 identification. Dr. Howard reports that 

 Mr. Rohwer determines them all as V. 

 diaholica. Two of these specimens were 

 taken from the same nest. 



This species appears to feed very lar- 

 gely, if not entirely, upon vegetable sub- 

 stances. Sweetish sap of any kind is taken 

 with avidity. Fruits are bitten into and 

 the pulp devoured or carried off. Kernels 

 of corn in the late milk stage are cut into 

 and pieces about a millimetre square are 

 carried off. The material carried off is 

 probably food for the larvae, although I 

 was not able to prove this point conclu- 

 sively. 



Vespula diabolica does not merit its spe- 

 cific name by reason of its disposition, 

 since it is not at all pugnacious as far as 

 man is concerned. Fnlike some of the 

 other Vespoidea no amount of striking at 

 it seems to arouse its ire, and one indivi- 

 dual crawled up my sleeve and came out 

 at the neck of my sliirt without stinging. 

 In fact only if seized or crushed does it 

 .sting. Its sting is not particularly severe, 

 the burning sensation soon passing off and 

 leaving an itching which persists for a 

 couple of days. It is capable of stinging 

 twice in rapid succession. They are rather 

 (juarrelsome among themselves, and when 



