Marvels of the Universe 



397 



HOME LIFE IN WASPLAND 



BY JOHN J. WARD, F.E.S. 



It was a bright, sunn}' day in early November and a young queen Wasp had just returned from 



her honeymoon tour. By some means she had lost her 



husband ; the loss, however, did not cause her the 



shghtest anxiety. As a matter of fact, as the sun 



retreated her spouse had felt advancing the chilled air 



which foretold an early frost, and an hour before he had 



alighted and crawled beneath a log of wood that rested 



against a wall. In all probability, too, he would die 



there ; for the male ^^'asp rarely lives for many hours 



after his wedding, and if a frost follows it almost 



certainly speUs his doom. 



The queen herself was also now feeling the cold, but 

 what she felt more was a drowsy feeling that seemed to 

 overcome her. She had alighted on the sunny side of 

 the bole of an old elm-tree and was slowly crawling over 

 the bark. Presently she came to a split in the tree, 

 where the bark was loose, and through which she made 

 her way, eventually finding herself in the heart of the 

 tree. For a minute or two she crawled round and 

 about the inside ; then, selecting the driest spot, she 

 opened wide her strong jaws and took hold of a pro- 

 jecting portion of the hard wood and gripped it firmly, 

 folded her wings round her body and immediately fell 

 into a sound sleep. 



Later on she awoke, feeling a little dazed and stiff ; 

 but through the opening by which she had entered the 

 tree she could see some rays of sunlight penetrating 

 and she steered towards them, coming out on to the 

 bark ; and there she sunned herself for nearly an hour. 

 At the end of that time she appeared to have got 

 thoroughly warmed, and then she started on her toilet. 

 After cleaning her jaws very thoroughly and briskly 

 rubbing her face, she brushed down her wings and 

 body by means of her legs. Finally she drew each of 

 her feelers, one at a time, between her folded forelegs, 

 cleaning them from base to tip. Her toilet then being 

 complete she immediately spread her wings and pushed 

 out into the air. 



This queen Wasp did not, of course, know anything 

 about dates ; had she have done so she would probably 

 have been greatly surprised to know that her sleep had 

 lasted from November 9th until April 19th. For more 

 than five months cold and wet days had come and 

 gone while she had remained dormant. Now her hour of victory had come : she was to become 

 the mother of a new Wasp community ; indeed, she was destined to be the queen of a thriving citj' 

 with perhaps as many as fifty thousand inhabitants — all her children. 



I'linlii I;/] 

 A 



CANOE-SHAPED 



DIAIOM. 



Tlic movements of these minute plants through 

 the water naturally suggest that this species is 

 canoe-shaped. The markings are of a stronger 

 character than in some others here illustrated. 

 As shown, it is about eight hundred times larger 

 than natural size. 



