WAS 
felves : all which they conv.ey to their nefts, for the 
nourifhment of their young. 
Such is die dread with which thefe Wafps im- 
prefs all the infeft tribes, that they inrtantly difap- 
pear at their approach, and leave them mafters of 
their prey. Like the eagle or the falcon, where- 
ever they fly, they form a kind of defart in the 
ambient air. In this manner they pafs their fum- 
mer, plundering .the; neighbourhood, and rearing 
their young: everyday adds to their numbers; 
and from their ftrertgth, agility, and indifcrimi- 
nate appetite for every fort of food, were they pof- 
fcffed of the longevity of bees, they would foon 
fwarm on the face of nature, and become one of 
the greateft pefl"s of mankind; but providentially 
their lives are apportioned to their mifchief, their 
exigence being limited to a fingle feafon. 
During the continuance of the fummer heats, 
Wafps are voracious and enterprifing; but as the 
fun withdraws his genial warmth, their courage 
and aftivity gradually forfake them. In propor- 
tion as the cold increafes, they become more do- 
meftic ; feldom quit their nefts; make but fhort 
excurfions ; and, after fluttering about in the noon- 
tide heats, return to their habitations quite chilled 
and enfeebled. As their calamities thicken, new 
paflions begin to operate: their care for poftcrity 
is difcontinued ; and as tlie parents are no longer 
able to iupply their growing progeny with food, 
they barbaroLjfly facrifice them to the necefllty of 
the times. Thus all the ufelefs hands are de- 
ftroyed: the young worms, which, but a fhort 
fpace before, they fed and protedcd with fo much 
afliduicy, they now cruelly butcher, and drag 
from their cells. 
The cold' increafing, and thefe infers no longer 
finding fufRcient warmth in their cells, which be- 
come odious to them, they fly to the corners of 
houfes, where they may enjoy an artificial heat. 
But the winter ftill continuing infuppprtable, be- 
fore the commencement of the new year they wi- 
ther and die; the working Wafps firft, the males 
ibon following, and many of the females fufFering 
in the general calamity. In every neft, however, 
a few females outlive the winter; and, having 
been impregnated by the males during the pre- 
ceding feafon, they begin in the fpring to lay their 
eggs in a little hole of their own contriving: this 
bundle of eggs, which is cluftered together like 
grapes, foon produces two worms, which the fe- 
male takes proper precautions to defend and fup- 
ply ; and thefe, when hatched, foon yield afiiftance 
to the female, who is employed in hatching two 
more; thefe alfo gathering ftrength, extricate 
themfelves from the furrounding web, and become 
likewife afllftants to their parent. Fifteen days 
, afterwards, two more make their appearance: and 
,thus does the community daily increafe; while the 
female lays in every cell, firft a male, and then a 
female. In a fiiort time, thefe become breeders 
in their turn; till, from a fingle female, ten thou- 
fand Wafps are frequently produced before the 
month of June. After the female has thus pro- 
duced her progeny, which are diftributed in dif- 
ferent diftrifls, they aflfemble from ail quarters 
about the middle of fummer, and provide for 
,themfelves the large and commodious habitations 
already defer i bed. 
- Such is the hiftory of the focial Wafp, or that 
. fpecies which lives in communities. But as among 
;bees, fo among thefe infefts, there are various 
.-tribes that live in folitude. Thefe lay their eggs 
WAS 
in a hole they provide for that purpofe, and the 
parent dies long before the birth of it's offspring. 
In the , chief fpecies of the folitrry Wafp, the in- 
fe£t is fmaller than the Working Wafp of the focial 
kind. The filament, by which the corft-let is 
joined to the body, is longer, and more diftinftly 
feen ; and the whole colour is blacker than in the 
ordinary kinds. But the manners of this extra- 
ordinary infed:, rather than it's figure, claim our 
principal attention. 
This kind of Wafp is moft diligently employed 
from the end of May to the beginning of July. 
The whole purpofe of it's life fecms to be that of 
contriving and fitting up a commodious apart- 
ment for it's young, which is not to fucceed it till 
the return of fpring. For this end it is employed, 
with unceafing aflldulty, in boring a hole into the 
fineft mould, fome inches deep, but not much 
wider than the diameter of it's own body; and 
this is only a gallery leading to a larger apartment 
deftined for the lodgment of it's offspring. As 
it always chufes a gravelly foil to work in, and 
where the earth is of confequence extrertiely hard, 
the digging and hollowing this apartment is an 
enterprize of no fmall labour. To accomplifh it's 
operations, this infeft is furnilhed with two teeth, 
which are ftrong and firm, but not fufficiently 
hard to penetrate the fubftances through which it 
is refolved to make it's wiy: in order, therefore, 
to foften that earth it cannot pierce, it is pofTefTed 
of a gummy liquor, which it emits on the fpor, 
thereby rendering it more eafily feparable from 
the reft; and the whole becoming a kind of fofc 
pafte, is gradually removed to the mouth of it's 
habitation. 
The animal's fupply of liquor, however, being 
foon exhaufted in thefe operations, it imbibes 
water either from fome neighbouring flower or 
ftream, in order to fupply the deficiency of it's 
natural fluid. At length, after much toil, a hole 
fome inches deep is formed, with a large cavity at 
the bottom; and to which no other hoftile infe6t 
would venture to make it's way, from the length 
and ftraitnefs of the defile through which it would 
be obliged to pafs. In this cavity the folitary 
Wafp lays it's egg which is deftined to continue 
the fpecies: there the nafcent animal remains up- 
wards of nine months, unattended and immured; 
at firft appearance, one of the moft defencclefs 
infects in the creation; but, when accurately in- 
veftigated, prefenting nev7 wonders, no other 
creature of the kind having fuch a luxurious pro* 
vifion, or fuch confirmed fecurity. 
No fooner has the parent Wafp depofited her 
egg at the bottom of the hole, than ftie turns 
her care to furnifli a fupply of provifions, which 
the young infe£t may readily find immediately on 
being hatched. To this end, flie procures a num- 
ber of little green worms, generally from eight to 
twelve; and thefe are to ferve the young Wafp for 
food the inftant it awakens into life. When this 
fupply is regularly arranged and laid in, the old 
one, with the fame afliduity flie before worked out 
her hole, now clofes the mouth of the palTage; 
and thus leaving her young one immured in per- 
fe6t fecurity, and copioufly fupplied v^ith animal 
food, Ihe foon after expires, having performicd 
every thing in her power to continue the kind. 
When the young- Wafp firft quits the egg, it -is 
fo fmall as to be fcarcely vifible ; and is immured 
among a number of infefts larger than itfelf, or- 
derly arranged round it> which^.however, can ex- 
cite 
