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them die of starvation and others of cold. They live 

 mostly on fruits, stinging and biting them in a way 

 that is very destructive to them. Grapes when wilting 

 or growing old are always full of wasps. The divisions 

 in their bodies 'are very distinct, the joints being scarce- 

 ly larger than a pin. Our most common species, the 

 brown wasp is very abundant in fruit time especially. 

 During the early part of the warm season they are en- 

 gaged in making their nests and raising their young. 



One very interesting feature about the wasp is that 

 it is positively the first paper maker, and from which 

 man first learned the art. The nest is usually round 

 and composed of a rough paper which they make by 

 chewing fibers from a piece of wood, then they mix it 

 with a glutinous substance from their mouth. When 

 well mixed it forms a king of pulp which when exposed 

 to the air immediately becomes stiff. With this they 

 make a very neat home. The nest is full of cells 

 which are four sided. In each of these cells an egg is 

 deposited. The young are very curious, looking more 

 like a white worm with a brown head than a wasp. 

 When some days or weeks old legs and wings appear 

 and the eyes are more matured. The nest is usually 

 placed upon the branch of a tree in the woods. Small 

 boys delight to stone them down but they always take 

 due care to be at a safe distance when the wasps leave 

 to avenge themselves on their enemies. In the latter 

 part of summer the brown wasps congregate in large 

 numbers and fly around and make themselves familiar 

 with everything within their reach. 



The mud wasp is truly beautiful, being a rich azure 

 blue which glistens with many different hues when the 



