ON 
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF TWO SPECIES 
OF WASPS. 
READ TO THE ASHMOLEAN SOCIETY, FEB, 27, 1835. 
oe 
Tue following remarks upon the natural history 
of two species of wasps, both of which are common 
in Great Britain, are offered to the notice of the 
Ashmolean Society, in the hope that they may tend 
to reconcile the contradictions observable in the 
works of all the authors who have written on the 
subject, from the times of Swammerdam and Ray, 
to the present period. Very few original observa- 
tions appear to have been made since Reaumur and 
De Geer turned their attention to the habits of these 
insects; and the accounts of later writers seem 
nearly all taken, and frequently without acknow- 
ledgment, from the works of those illustrious natu- 
ralists. It may indeed seem presumptuous in me 
to differ from such men; but it is perhaps better to 
state the points of disagreement at once, in order 
that the results of my own observations, made 
during the summers of 1833 and 1834, may furnish 
additional data for any members of the Society who 
may feel inclined to follow up the subject, and thus 
either verify or refute them. 
The two species which are the subject of this 
paper, are the Vespa Vulgaris, or ground wasp, 
and the Vespa Britannica, or tree wasp. The for- 
mer is common in all parts of the island; the 
A 3 
