Vespid^. INSECTS. Common Wasp. 191 
The Odynerus crassicornis is one of the most local 
of the British species. It has been taken near Darenth 
wood in Kent. Mr. Westwood has observed it near 
Paris, carrying the larvae of the beetle named Chryso- 
mela populi, to its nest. 
In the family Masarid.® the antennae are widely 
separated, and they appear to be composed of only 
eight joints. On Plate 7, fig. 6, is represented a species 
of this family, Celonites apiformis. 
Family — VESPID.® {Wasps and Hornets). 
The Social Wasps or Vespid^ — so called from 
the typical genus Vespa, are thus characterized. The 
fore wings are folded longitudinally, and have three 
complete submarginal cells, the second receiving both 
the recurrent nervures. The eyes are kidney-shaped, 
and on the side of the head they extend to or nearly 
reach the base of the mandibles. The claws of the 
tarsi are simp.le. The societies consist of males, females, 
and workers. 
The insects of this family are pre-eminent as archi- 
tects. The endless variety of form, the ditferent mate- 
rials used by these industrious insects in the construc- 
tion of their nests, and the various textures consequently 
produced, cannot fail to strike the careful observer. 
In this country, we have but one genus of the family 
{Vespa), and of this genus there are eight indigenous 
species. Their nests are works of great beauty ; and 
when we examine the differences in the construction — 
the adaptation of the nest to the circumstances likely 
to ensue in the various situations in which we find 
them — we are astonished at the amount of intelligence 
displayed. 
The originator of a wasp’s nest is a single individual, 
a female, which has passed the winter in a torpid state, 
and has been aroused from lethargy by the genial 
warmth of spring. She first seeks for a site in which 
to lay the foundation of her vesparium : possession 
being the title-deed by which she and her progeny 
hold it, and a formidable array of stings being the 
defence of the nest from foreign aggression. The 
female, then, having found a hole in a place adapted 
to her purpose, proceeds to enlarge it, and to form a 
subterranean chamber of suitable space. She then 
collects materials for the foundation. This foundation 
is formed of raspings and scrapings of wood ; having 
got together some of this material, she first forms a 
footstalk strong enough to support the first two or 
three layers of cells ; at the end of this footstalk she 
forms three cup-shaped receptacles ; these are reversed, 
hanging like a bell, and are each about one-tenth of 
an inch in depth. Over the foundation cells the wasp 
now places a covering like an umbrella ; she deposits 
an egg in each cup, and then proceeds to form addi- 
tional cells, depositing an egg in each as soon as it is 
constructed. The first eggs are by this time hatched, 
and the young larvae require some of her attention. 
These larvae grow rapidly, and as they grow, the 
mother wasp from time to time adds to the walls of 
their cells ; the cells of the foundation comb are never 
carried up higher than the length of the larvae. As it 
grows day by day, the female wasp adds a fresh course 
of wall until the grub is full grown, when it covers 
itself in by spinning a convex cap to its cell, of a 
light-coloured, tough, silky texture. “ The angles of 
the planes of the hexagons are determined by the points 
of contact of the circular bases ; from these the wasp 
gradually commences the flattened sides of the hexa- 
gons, at first a little curved ; but at a slight elevation, 
the sides become perfectly flattened planes, and as such, 
are carried up to the required height. Thus the gradual 
raising of the walls is as regular and progressive as 
that of a bricklayer constructing hexagonal chimneys. 
Each additional layer is laid upon the previous one, 
which has had time to become hard and suitable for 
supporting the additional weight of wall required.” 
Wasps, however, do not at all times form cup-shaped 
foundations. Some Brazilian wasps of the genus Poly- 
bia, lay cup-shaped foundations for their first cells ; 
but they construct a flat roof as the comb increases 
in dimensions. As soon as they have formed the first 
comb, the species of Polybia begin to build upon the 
flattened roof, “laying the hexagonal foundations at 
once, sharp and angular, from the flattened roof. One, 
two, three, or more planes are in different instances to 
be seen, merely as it were chalked out by the slightest 
amount of elevation possible.” 
Three of the British wasps ,( Vespa arhorea, V. syl- 
vestris, and V. norvegicd) build their nests in trees or 
bushes, such as gooseberry bushes. The section con- 
taining these, has the scape of the antennse yellow in 
front, in all sexes. Their style of building corresponds 
with that of the ground wasps, such as the V. vulgaris, 
described above, but their texture is firmer. The nests 
are consequently capable of resisting the effects of 
the wind and rain, and the changes of temperature to 
which they are liable to be exposed. 
The Social wasps are most courageous. They 
seldom attack when unmolested ; so it would be well 
for any one, should a wasp fly near them, not to wave 
it away, but to take no notice of its presence, or to sit 
quiet. Should any one attack their nest, the inmates 
boldly defend their citadel, and resent all attempts 
of the invader. From the much abused, and too 
often cruelly treated wasp, we maj' learn an admirable 
lesson of parental care, of courage in the defence of her 
young brood, and of careful and cleanly housewifery ; 
no particle of rubbish of any kind being suffered to 
strew her dwelling. The number of individuals which 
compose the different communities of wasps varies much. 
Reaumur calculated thirty thousand as the number 
likely to be found in a populous community. The 
celebrated French observer had estimated the entire 
number of the cells at ten thousand, and supposed each 
might have been the cradle of three larvae. 
THE COMMON WASP {Vespa vulgaris) generally 
appears in this country in April. Mr. Smith once 
saw a female flying at Hampstead on the 13th Feb- 
ruary, 1859, when the weather was unusually mild. I 
have a record of its early appearance in February near 
Edinburgh, about twenty-nine years ago, when first I 
began to attend minutely to natural history. 
VESPA G-ERMANICA is widely distributed in Bri- 
tain, though not so abundant as the preceding. 
VESPA EUFA, like the two preceding, is a ground 
