PERCEPTION OF COLOUR. 321 
I then removed the yellow paper and honey, and 
placed the honey which had been on the green paper 
about a foot from it on the table. 
At 8.15 she returned and lit on the green paper, 
but immediately flew off to the honey. I then trans- 
posed the honey and the paper. 
At 8.24 she returned and again Jit on the paper, but 
immediately flew off to the honey. 
Thus, therefore, though it is clear that wasps can 
distinguish colours, they appear, as might be expected 
from other considerations, to be less guided by them 
than is the case with bees, 
I have been much struck by the industry of wasps. 
They commence work early in the morning, and do not 
leave off till dusk. I have several times watched a 
wasp the whole day, and from morning to evening, if 
not disturbed, they worked without any interval for rest 
or refreshment. 
Being anxious to compare bees and wasps in this 
respect, on August 6, 1882, I accustomed a wasp and 
three bees to come to some honey put out for them on 
two tables, one allotted to the wasp, the other to the 
bees. The last bee came at 7.15 r.m. The wasp con- 
tinued working regularly till 7.47, coming at intervals 
of between six and seven minutes. Next morning, when 
I went into my study a few minutes after 4 a.m, I 
found the wasp already at the honey. The first bee 
came at 5.45, the second at 6. 
The wasp occupied about a minute, or even less, in 
supplying herself with a load of honey, and made during 
