THE AMERICAN WASPS. 



A knowledge of the wild life about an 

 American farm adds to the charm of 

 rural life in many directions. Nor is 

 there any department thereof beneath 

 the notice of an intelligent and reflecting 

 person, whether an agriculturist or oth- 

 erwise. 



In the domain of entomology there are 

 many interesting paths which pertain 

 to the economical side of farming. The 

 insect world touches the farmer vitally 

 on every side. Some destroy his labors, 

 while others assist. Some attack his fruit, 

 some his grain, and yet others his pas- 

 tures and meadows. Yet many are ig- 

 norant to a wonderful degree of this 

 study. Not long ago I was invited to 

 talk to several hundred students in a 

 college. In the remarks I suggested that 

 little things were worthy of investigation 

 if for no other reason than for one's own 

 satisfaction. "How many before me of 

 these hundreds know positively how 

 many legs the common house-fly pos- 

 sesses ?" After the talk a leading profes- 

 sor came to me and said he did not know, 

 not having given tht subject a thought. 



It does seem a small business, but the 

 leading entomologist of the government 

 assures the agricultural public that in- 

 sects annually destroy more than $300,- 

 000,000 worth of the produce of the 

 farms in the republic. 



It becomes then a duty even to know 

 our insect friends, as well as to distin- 

 guish our enemies. Of the former, 

 among the more active is the entire wasp 

 family. A boy naturally loves honey and 

 will run large risks to obtain it. That 

 was the fix of the writer when a small 

 lad in one of the forest states of the mid- 

 dle west. In his father's clearing were 

 nests of the yellow- jacket, a wasp 

 (Vespa), and being anxious to know 

 whether they made honey, he crawled 

 into a large, hollow log where he knew 

 there was a yellow-jacket's nest. The 



sting of this insect is very painful and 

 in that log the boy tested it. But he 

 learned what he was after. The nest 

 was there with larvae (worms) nearly 

 full grown. He saw, after they were 

 settled, how these worms were fed. The 

 wasp brought the soft portion of an in- 

 sect in its mouth and when in front of 

 the worm chewed it ; the worm was noti- 

 fied by titillation and opened its mouth 

 and the wasp spat the food into it. How- 

 ever, nearly all species .of wasps live, 

 after maturity, wholly on pollen, honey 

 and honey-dew. This last, while certain 

 plants exude it from their leaves, is 

 chiefly the secretion of lice, which as a 

 rule feed on and damage cultivated 

 plants. 



Certain wasps, like the bee, are social 

 in their habits. They live in colonies. 

 The bald-faced hornet is the most dis- 

 tinguished of these. Often have we, all 

 of us, seen them hunting the fly on our 

 porches. When provoked they sting with 

 the force of a bullet. So far as I know, 

 they invariably aim at the face. Only 

 the perfect and imperfect females have 

 stings. All males are like the drones of 

 the beehive, without any weapon, and all 

 males of the wasps perish in winter. It 

 is the female which survives and contin- 

 ues the species. In early summer Madam 

 Bald-face constructs with her mouth a 

 sort of papier-mache from weather-beaten 

 wood, and from other vegetable fiber, 

 and hangs it to a bush. The first 

 hatch are workers which, on maturity, 

 immediately go to work to enlarge the 

 nest. The queen after this simply eats 

 and lays eggs. In the cells the eggs are 

 glued fast and also the young for a 

 while. The worm hangs head down, it 

 also being the big end. Insects of all 

 kinds, the very large majority being 

 pests, constitute the entire food of the 

 worm. Later in summer perfect females 

 and males are hatched. At the first to- 



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