IIYMENOPTERA. 
135 
attaches to the stems of plants such as heath. After 
filling the nest with young caterpillars the female lays 
an egg therein and closes the mouth of the nest. When 
the young larva is hatched it feeds on the contents, and 
when ready to emerge it eats its way out of the nest 
through the side. 
Other kinds, as in the insects of the genus Odynerus , 
form burrows in sandbanks, in which they construct 
their cells, which are often built of mud ; in these cells 
young caterpillars are placed and the eggs then laid. 
The family of Vespidoo contains the Social-wasps, 
which are divided into Tree-wasps and Ground- 
wasps ; these consist of males, females, and neuters. 
The Tree-wasps attach their nests to the branches of 
trees and woodwork of outhouses; but their habits are 
not invariable, for the Ground-wasps sometimes suspend 
their nest in the roofs of houses. 
There are seven British species of Wasp, of which 
the Hornet (Vespa crabo ) is the largest and most for¬ 
midable. The societies of Wasps are annual; all die 
excepting the females, which are all able to survive the 
cold of winter, and ready at the return of spring to 
become the parents of thousands. In Plate V., Fig. 1, 
is the Hornet; Fig. 2, the Common Wasp; and Fig. 3, 
one of the Tree-wasps (V. sylvestris ). 
The sub-section, Anthopkila (flower-lovers), contains 
the Short-tongued Bees and the Long-tongued Bees; 
the former, consisting of the family of Andrenidse, are 
solitary; only perfect sexes are known in the two 
genera of this family. Colletes burrows in sandbanks 
and sandstone, and plasters the inside of the burrow— 
which is a tubular cell six to ten inches long—with a 
