PERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 109 
prevented by a host of workers, some of which are con- 
stantly attending upon her, feeding her, and permitting 
her to suffer no fatigue ; while others take every step that 
is necessary for the safety and subsistence of the colony. 
Not so our female wasp ;—she is at first an insulated being 
that has had the fortune to survive the rigours of winter. 
When in the spring she lays the foundation of her fu- 
ture empire, she has not a single worker at her disposal : 
with her own hands and teeth she often hollows out a cave 
wherein she may lay the first foundations of her paper 
“metropolis ; she must herself build the first houses, and 
produce from her own womb their first inhabitants ; 
which in their infant state she must feed and educate, 
before they can assist her in her great design. At length 
she receives the reward of her perseverance and labour ; 
and from being a solitary unconnected individual, in the 
autumn is enabled to rival the queen of the hive in the 
number of her children and subjects; and in the edifices 
which they inhabit—the number of cells in a vespiary 
sometimes amounting to more than 16,000, almost all 
of which contain either an egg, a grub, or a pupa; and 
each cell serving for three generations in a year; which, © 
after making every allowance for failures and other casual- 
ties, will give a population of at least 20,000. Even at this 
time, when she has so numerous an army of coadjutors, 
the industry of this creature does not cease, but she con- 
tinues to set an example of diligence to the rest of the 
community.—If by any accident, before the other fe- 
males are hatched, the queen mother perishes, the neu- 
ters cease their labours, lose their instincts, and die. 
The number of females in a populous vespiary is con- 
