BULLETIN | 
OF THE 
BROOKLYN ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 
VoL. XIV OcTOBER—DECEMBER, I9I9 Nos. 4 AND 5 
A REMARKABLE NEST OF VESPA MACULATA, WITH 
NOTES ON SOME OTHER WASP%S’ NESTS. 
By Ws. T. Davis, Staten Island, N. Y. 
There is a large, shallow fresh-water pond between Cliffwood 
and Seidler’s Beach, New Jersey, and not a great way from Key- 
port. Here on November 2, 1918, Mr. George E. Ekblaw and 
Mr. Howard H. Cleaves, while investigating the bird life of the 
region, discovered a large wasps’ nest hanging from the branch 
of an oak about eight feet above the water. It was two and one- 
half feet in length, and of such a remarkable shape that they 
kindly brought it to the writer for further investigation. Wher 
shaken several dead Vespa maculata fell out of the opening near 
the lower end of the nest, which was to be expected, as no other 
species of native wasp would have constructed so large a domi- 
cile. In the photograph from which the plate was made a foot 
rule was included as a guide to size. A few leaves will be seen 
protruding from the side of the nest, indicating the presence of 
a branch otherwise wholly hidden, but which joins the branch at 
the top of the nest. The nest was no doubt commenced on the 
hidden branch, but as the structure increased in size the paper 
was extended up the small branch to the one which is seen near 
the top of the neck. There are indications that more paper was 
being added at the top of the neck when cold weather put an 
end to the activities of the colony. 
It is a strange fact that these wasps are overtaken by winter 
