174 HYMENOPTEKA. 



operation. The nests they form, however, can be easily cut 

 down, and the contents killed ; whilst the earth spread over the 

 grass will do much good. They may make pasture-land look 

 unsightly, but they do as much good as harm. One peculiar 

 habit is the curious way in which they keep colonies of Aphides, 

 so as to draw the sweet honey-dew out of them ; they even 

 stimulate this secretion by stroking the backs of the plant-lice, 

 and then take up the sweet drops as they issue from their 

 cornicles. 



One of our largest ants is the Eed Wood Ant {Formica rufa), 

 which forms dome-shaped nests in woods, especially pine-woods. 

 Fruit, notably peaches, are seriously affected by these little 

 pests. 



Remedies for Anfs. — Ants' nests are best destroyed by mak- 

 ing a hole in the middle of the nest, pouring in about an 

 ounce of bisulphide of carbon, and then closing up the hole 

 with a piece of clay. 



"Wasps (Vespid.i;). 



The true Wasps are social insects like the Ants — males, 

 females or queens, and workers being found in each colony. 

 At the end of the year the colonies die off; only the fertilised 

 queens live through the winter, hibernating in the thatch of 

 houses, Sid., (luring the cold months of the year. The queen 

 appears in the spring and commences to make the nest. At first 

 only a few cells are made, in each of which she deposits a single 

 egg : from these workers alone are developed. The queen feeds 

 the first brood of maggots, giving them small caterpillars, &o., 

 chewed up into pulp. As soon as the first lot of workers are 

 produced, the queen gives herself up entirely to egg-depositing, 

 the workers doing all the duties of the nest. In autumn males 

 and females come from the brood, the former fertilising the 

 females, which hibernate during winter. The AVasps' nests 

 are variable in form, some being ground nests {Vespa nihjari-"). 



