112 ASSOCIATION OF ORGANISMS—THE WEB OF LIFE 
means of her strong jaws she removes the hard parts of the prey, 
chewing up the rest into a kind of mince-meat adapted to the 
tender digestions of her offspring. When they have reached 
their full size the grubs spin cocoons and pass into the pupa stage, 
from which they emerge as worker wasps about four weeks after 
the date when the eggs were laid. Without loss of time these 
take over the work of building and nursing, and even feed their 
mother, who soon has noth- 
ing to do but lay eggs in 
the cells as they are con- 
structed. The complete 
nest consists of a series of 
combs, connected by little 
pillars, and the building 
operations are carried on 
from above downwards. 
Each comb is made up of 
a large number of roughly 
hexagonal cells, the mouths 
of which are directed down- 
wards. Towards the end 
of summer cells of larger 
size are made, in which 
queens and drones are 
Fig. 1096.—Section through Nest of a Social Wasp (Vespa reared, but many of the 
Germanica), rather less than 14 natural size ‘ 
e.g., Entrance gallery; s.g., side galleries; 1-7, combs connected latter oe brought Wp ia the 
by pillars (7 above main figure shows arrangement of the three ordinary small cells. After 
cells of the youngest comb); exv., papery envelope of nest; 7, root é 
to which first foundation is attached (other roots with secondary Mating has taken place the 
sesohnet eit a.n., part of an ant’s nest; 77 2, larve of community is soon broken 
up; most of the insects die, 
but some of the queens survive the winter, and found the com- 
munities of the following year. Wasps appear to be extremely 
sensitive to cold, and it is perhaps partly for this reason that 
the nest is surrounded with a covering made up of layers of 
paper (see fig. 1096). 
The nests of many species of social Wasp are suspended from 
plants, while the Hornet (Vespa crabro) prefers to build in a 
hollow tree. There is a large amount of variation as to size, 
shape, and durability, while in some cases earth is added to the 
ordinary building material. 
