158 Insect, Fungous and Other Pests. [june, 



has collected and destroyed during May about 1,000 queen 

 wasps by paying \<L. each for them to boys and others. Each 

 queen wasp destroyed means one nest the less, as the queens 

 are the foundresses of the colonies in the spring, they being the 

 only wasps which survive the winter. 



From a general knowledge and observation of the life-history 

 and food-habits of wasps, it is natural to expect that there will be 

 two opinions, one in favour of the wasps and one against them. 

 One group of wasps, the Solitary Wasps, make burrows and 

 store in these, for the sake of their larvae, many species of insects 

 and spiders. These Solitary Wasps, which are not so numerous 

 as the ordinary Social Wasps, can sting severely ; they may be 

 regarded as useful insects. 



The food habits of Social Wasps, on the other hand, are 

 varied. For themselves, and for the sake of their young, insects 

 of all kinds are willingly taken, viz., other and smaller wasps, 

 flies, caterpillars, aphides, exposed grubs, &c. That insects 

 often form a food willingly taken by wasps has been proved by 

 actual observation of the wasps themselves and of their castings, 

 as well as of the contents of the alimentary canal of the wasp 

 larvae fed by the nurses. Wasps have further been found 

 swarming in fields, e.g., bean fields where aphides abounded. 

 In relation to plants, moreover, wasps are often most useful 

 agents in pollination. 



On the other hand, butchers' shops are entered by wasps 

 and the surface of raw beef gnawed and the juices taken. 

 Grocers' shops are also entered, and sweets such as sugar and 

 jam are stolen and carried away. Wasps are sometimes the 

 cause of great loss to fruit-growers and gardeners by injuring 

 and devouring apples, pears, cherries, plums, grapes, &c. Men 

 at work in the fields engaged in budding fruit-trees are 

 occasionally driven from their work by the stings of the 

 insects, while agriculturists engaged in ploughing and having 

 accidentally turned up wasps' nests, have had to beat a hasty 

 retreat, whilst the horses, maddened by the stings, have 

 stampeded. 



One of the largest of our wasps, the hornet, occasionally 

 does harm by stripping the outer bark from young plants, e.g., 

 ash, oak, birch, lime, willow, for material for its nest-making. 



From the foregoing it will be seen how difficult it is to lay 



