116 POPULAE ENTOMOLOGY. 



enecl at the tip ; mandibles short ; body smooth and polished, 

 generally black, marked with yellow ; wings longitudinally folded. 



Yespa vulgaris^ the Common JFasp, has the antennse, 

 iieadj and thorax blacky marked with yellow ; body yellow, 

 with the base of the segments, and a spot on each, black. 



Yespa crabro, the Hornet, is much larger than the 

 common Wasp, of a rich browii, with dark markings ; the 

 head and body buff, spotted with brown. 



The family Vespidce is divided into Vespa, or true Wasps, 

 and Odynems, comprising the solitary species ; of the for- 

 mer, the Hornet is the largest of the species, and its sting 

 is a formidable instrument of defence. The nest of this 

 insect is of similar construction to that of the common Wasp, 

 though of coarser materials, and the columns supporting the 

 rows of cells are much stronger ; it is constructed either in 

 the hollows of trees, the thatch of barns, or in timber- 

 yards. It is difficult to obtain a sight of their nests while 

 building, for should the aperture be too large, they erect 

 a wall of the same material as the ceUs, which is described 

 by some naturalists as decayed wood, by others, as the bark 

 of trees gnawed to pieces and moistened with a sticky fluid, 

 which the insects have the power of emitting. With this 

 they make a kind of pasteboaixl, thicker than that of the 



