WASP NESTS. 361 



and a second, which was still more extraordinary, almost as far 

 as I desired. The facts connected with these nests are as 

 follows : — 



" I had a working community of Vespa germanica in the left- 

 hand comer of a window on the ground-floor, and another in the 

 right-hand corner. When these nests had increased in size to 

 four or five inches in diameter, I chloroformed the insects, 

 removed the shell or covering of each nest from the combs, 

 putting aside the coverings for specimens. In order to remove 

 the combs, I had to cut out a piece from the outside, and when 

 this was neatly united again, the empty shells had all the 

 appearance of perfect nests, with this advantage, that they con- 

 tained nothing which required drying in an oven in order to 

 prevent decomposition, which must have been done had the 

 combs, with their complement of grubs, &c., been allowed to 

 remain in the nests. This plan I always adopt when it is 

 practicable. I then returned the combs to the boxes from 

 which they were respectively taken, and introduced the workers, 

 stiU in a comatose state from the effects of the chloroform. As 

 soon as they recovered from their stupor, they set to work at 

 constructing fresh coverings. 



" I now brought home a nest of Vespa vulgaris, with its in- 

 mates. This was placed for work in a box in the left-hand 

 corner of a room immediately over the one just mentioned. 

 Soon after this, I perceived that the newly-formed covering to the 

 nest of the V. germanica in the left-hand corner of the window 

 below, was beginning to assume a variety of curious colouring. 

 On clipping away the covering, when it became sufBciently 

 advanced for another specimen, I found that numbers of workers 

 from the nest of V. vulgaris, situated in the vdndow above, had 

 actually joined themselves to this nest, and had been working 

 with is original inmates. 



" Not only had they been working in concert with them, but 

 they had been depositing eggs in the cells, as is proved by the 

 fact that mimbers of young specimens of V. vulgaris were after- 

 wards bred from the combs contained in the nest of V. germanica. 

 I do not know whether you are aware that worker wasps have 

 the power of producing fertile eggs without contact with the 

 other sex ; yet such I have proved over and over again to he 

 the case. 



