Insects, 7265 



was placed in a glazed box and removed to a room near where I reside, 

 a distance of about two miles from the place of capture, and there the 

 work of building, &c., was resumed, and has since been steadily carried 

 on. The covering of this nest is not one which completely encloses 

 the combs, like those formed by the other species of social VespidaB, 

 but merely one that resembles an inverted basin or bowl placed over 

 them, and which reaches to about an inch below the lower one, the 

 necessary additions being made to it on the construction of every fresh 

 comb to bring it to about the point I have stated, beyond which it is 

 not allowed to extend, for if one set of workers should, as sometimes 

 happens, venture to make such additions to it as to bring it beyond 

 that point, another set may be observed busying themselves in the 

 work of demolition. 



They work with great steadiness throughout the night by the light 

 of a candle — rushlight rather — with which I supply them, and it struck 

 me as being remarkable that when this artificial light was introduced 

 to them, or they to it, for the first time, it did not cause the least dis- 

 turbance among them, but that they at once began to work by it just 

 as though it had been the light of day. Another thing remarkable is, 

 that while the nest was in its original situation a number of the workers 

 might be seen going out and coming in, all night, by the light of the 

 moon, or even by that of the stars when the sky was clear, but since 

 its removal to the situation it now occupies, not a single individual has 

 ever ventured out after nightfall, whether the moon has been shining 

 brightly or not. This may perhaps in part, but cannot I think be 

 wholly accounted for, from the fact that they can now procure building 

 material, as well as food, without leaving the box in which they reside, 

 a constant supply of both being kept immediately under and around 

 the nest. 



In conclusion I may remark that the nests I have enumerated were 

 obtained within a very limited space. No two were situated half a 

 mile apart, and all except one were found within two or three hundred 

 yards of each other. I know, from repeatedly observing bodies of 

 workers apparently catering for the undeveloped young, tliat two others, 

 one of V. rufa, and one of V. sylvestris, might have been found in the 

 immediate vicinity, but time did not permit me to make search for 

 them, and I have no doubt that if other parts of the park had been as 

 thoroughly examined as the limited portion to which my attention was 

 directed, many others might have been obtained. That there has been 

 a comparative scarcity of the Vespidae is unquestionable, still I think, 

 if diligent and persevering search had been made, u sprinkling of nests 

 XVIII. 3 F 



