-THE WASP, 
S°3 
GpNUS VII. — Vefpa. '’the Wafp. 
There are no lefs than twenty-eight fpecies of the 
wafp ; many of which are univerfally known. The 
common characters by which the tribe is diftinguiftied, 
are, the jaws with which the mouth is armed ; the four 
wings, the firft pair of which are folded, and the Iharp 
pointed fling which is ufually concealed within the body ; 
the abdomen is joined to the thorax by a fhort ftalk, and 
the whole body is fmooth *. 
The crabro or hornet is not found in Scotland , though 
common in South Britain. The antennae, head, and legs, 
are of a brown or chefnut colour : the abdomen is of a 
fine orange brown ; but on the extenfion of the annuli, it 
difcovers on each lide aline of black : the wings are of the 
colour of amber ; and the animal, for fize, merits the 
firft rank among the vefpse. It builds its neft in the body 
of decayed trees f. ' 
Vefpa vulgaris, the common w T afp. The thorax of this 
fpecies is black, furrounded on the anterior part by a 
yellow line ; the abdomen is of a golden yellow, having 
triangular l’pots down the back part, and black ones on 
each fide. 
The wafps in general feem to fill up a middle rank be- 
tween the ichneumons and the bees ; like the former, 
they 
? Syft. Nat. p. 984. 
f Harris’s Expofit. Tab.^r, p. 3*7. 
