Annual  Report  for  1909  of  the  Zoologist.  361 
do  a considerable  amount  of  good  in  a way  which'  generally 
escapes  observation. 
The  wasps  sent  were  by  no  means  always  of  the  same 
species  ; indeed,  four  species  were  identified,  Vespa  vulgaris, 
V.  germanica,  V.  rufa,  and  V.  sylvestris.  The  last  named 
generally  makes  its  nest  in  a tree,  but  an  instance  of  an  under- 
ground nest  of  this  species  occurred  among  those  taken  during 
the  last  season.  • 
The  nests  were  taken  by  the  cyanide  method,  and  the  dead 
wasps  were  in  a good  condition  for  examination.  Almost  all 
the  workers  held  in  their  jaws  insects  in  some  stage  of  masti- 
cation. Sometimes  they  were  so  crushed  as  to  be  practically 
unrecognisable,  but  in  most  cases  it  was  at  least  possible  to 
assign  them  roughly  to  their  proper  groups.  In  no  single 
instance  had  the  wasps  selected  a useful  insect  as  prey,  and  in 
the  majority  of  cases  the  insects  were  positively  injurious, 
including  crane-flies,  aphides,  and  quite  a considerable  number 
of  leaf- hoppers,  or  “ cuckoo-spit  ” insects. 
As  usual,  there  were  several  inquiries  with  regard  to  insects 
infesting  stored  products,  or  making  themselves  a nuisance  in 
buildings  in  one  way  or  another.  The  grain-weevil  and  its 
allies,  and  the  timber-boring  beetles,  were  included  in  this 
category.  In  one  case  complaint  was  made  of  a small  beetle 
which  caused  great  annoyance  in  a dairy,  infesting  it  in  large 
numbers  and  alighting  on  the  surface  of  the  milk.  It  was 
identified  as  Typhcea  fumata,  and  its  presence  was  explained 
by  the  storage  of  hay  on  the  floor  above  the  dairy.  These 
beetles  are  of  constant  occurrence  in  hay-stacks,  and  the  case 
could  only  be  met  by  removing  the  hay  from  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  dairy,  or  by  preventing  the  egress  of  the  beetles 
from  the  hay-loft  by  covering  all  apertures  of  communication 
between  the  two  chambers  with  screens  of  flne  gauze. 
School  of  Agriculture, 
Cambridge. 
Cecil  Waeburton. 
