6 
latter, though occasionally met with in the south- 
ern counties of England, seems principally to 
abound in the northern districts, and in Scotland. 
It is by no means peculiar to Britain, as the name 
would seem to imply, but is spread over all the 
northern parts of Europe in great abundance. 
Some confusion has arisen with regard to the Vespa 
Vulgaris, whose habits are so ably described by 
Reaumur, in the sixth volume of his History of 
Insects. The species named Vespa Vulgaris by 
Linneus, is in fact the Vespa Britannica, and is 
described by him, and by De Geer, as fixing its nest 
to beams in sheds, or under the eaves of houses, or 
to low trees; but the French entomologists after- 
wards bestowed the specific name Vulgaris upon that 
wasp which was most abundant in their own coun- 
try, and in the southern parts of Europe, and whose 
nest is always formed in the ground. The error 
seems to have hitherto passed unnoticed, except that 
Shaw remarks that some confusion seems to prevail 
on the subject. The species now called Vespa Vul- 
garis, seems to be the Vespa Gallica of Linneeus ; 
but as he does not mention the situation of the nest, 
it is not quite certain. He merely says, “ Habitat 
in Europa Australiori*.” Fabricius describes it as 
* Vespa Gallica, affinis Vulgari, at minor?” Mr. 
Wood, in his “ Linnzean Genera of Insects,” has 
figured the Vespa Britannica under the name of 
Vespa Vulgaris of Linnzeus, and so far he is correct. 
But he describes the species as living in the ground, 
which is not the case with the Vespa Vulgaris of 
Linneus. Leach seems to have been the first who 
a Linn, Syst. Nat. vol. ii. p. 949. 
6 Fabricius, Genera Insectorum, vol. i. p. 460, ed. 1781. 
