210 VESPA CRABRO. 



blishment of a colony, and begin the operation by building a thick 

 and solid pillar of the same materials as the other parts of the nest, 

 but much harder and more compact. The matter of which this 

 is formed consists principally of the bark of the ash detached in 

 filaments, and ground by their mandibles into a paste which hardens 

 as the work goes on. The column or pillar the female fixes in the 

 most elevated part of the vault, and attached to it is a kind of cap 

 or roof which protects their combs from above. These cells are 

 hexagonal, with their openings turned downwards, for the purpose 

 of containing her eggs, and the grubs which issue from them. As 

 in spring only female wasps are seen, it is conjectured that they 

 have been fecundated before winter, for they commence depositing 

 their ova as soon as the cells are ready. These ova are soon 

 hatched, and when the larvae have acquired sufficient size, they 

 line their cell with a silky substance, and in this substance undergo 

 their metamorphosis into pupce, and afterwards into perfect or 

 winged insects. The insects first produced are the neuters, work- 

 ing insects, or labourers. These occupy themselves in the con- 

 struction of the dwelling and feeding of the larvse. The female 

 continues to deposit her ova; the family is consequently augmented; 

 and the nest becoming at length too small, necessity requires it to 

 be enlarged. When this is completed a new addition of pillars is 

 formed connected with the first, till the whole cavity is filled except 

 an entrance about an inch in diameter. In the month of Septem- 

 ber and beginning of October, the young males and females emerge 

 from their pupse state, and all the larvae which have not completed 

 their transformation perish from cold or want of food, for the 

 Hornets cease to feed them after this period, and even throw them 

 out of the nest. The males and neuters perish daily, so that 

 towards the end of winter the females, which are enabled to pass 

 that season in a torpid state are the only ones that remain alive 

 to propagate the race by the formation of new colonies. 



The inflammation and swelling arising from the sting of the 

 Hornet is much more violent than that produced by the sting of 

 bees, and is often productive of very serious and even fatal conse- 

 quences.* The wounds occasioned by these insects are attended 



* Amorcux, Anim. Venim. 242. 



