19 
conclusion after a careful examination of a great 
number of nests. I have repeatedly found male 
grubs mixed indiscriminately in the wpper layers, 
which are always devoted to neuters, but have never 
seen an instance of the contrary. It is perfectly true, 
as Reaumur says, that the cells of neuter grubs are 
too short for the reception of those of males; but this 
defect is always remedied by the male grubs them- 
selves, which lengthen the cells, so as to suit their 
own bodies, by spinning the silky covering of a con- 
vex form, which gives it the requisite size. The 
neuters, on the contrary, make the covering almost 
flat; and cells which have been used for rearing 
male grubs, are easily distinguished from the others, 
by their projecting beyond the general surface of the 
comb in a convex form. The lower layers of a nest, 
which are formed last, are occupied by females; and 
the difference in size of the cells, when compared with 
those of the upper layers, nust be obvious toevery one. 
De Geer mentions, that in a small tree nest he 
found but one layer of cells, and that some of these 
cells were longer than others ; probably, he says, for 
the reception of females ; and he supposes the nest to 
be a perfect one of some new species of wasp. The 
probability however is, that, as in the other instances 
above mentioned, it was merely an early nest of the 
Vespa Britannica, of which one layer only was com- 
pleted. The cells in a layer often differ a little in 
length from each other; and if any of them in this 
case were so much longer, as to make it probable 
they were not intended for neuters, which is some- 
what doubtful, I should suppose that they were pre- 
pared for the reception of male, rather than female 
‘grubs, because the latter would require them to be 
B 2 
