THE LIVING WORLD. 
275 
pillar in the highest part of the vault, they next provide a roof. As soon 
as the cells are ready the wasp begins to lay, and when the larvae appear they 
are fed by the parent. About the close of the larval period, the young line 
their cells with silk, and then undergo their 
metamorphoses into wasps. Unlike the bees, 
they frequently support one or two hun¬ 
dred queens. The wasp , like the bear, is 
fond of honey, which, however, he can 
obtain only by the plunder of bees. As 
supplies diminish the wasp puts to death 
the old, the infirm, the useless, and de¬ 
stroys larvae which have not arrived in time 
but been born out of season. The mason- 
wasp resembles the mason-bee in habits. 
It uses its feet as trowels and fastens and 
seals its door. The carpenter-wasp con¬ 
structs his home in timber; the tree- 
wasp deserts the ground ; there are species 
INTERIOR OF ANT NEST. 
DWELLINGS OF THE tapinoma. 
which are parasitic; some that are 
solitary. The wasp feeds itself upon 
the choicest fruit, and thus robs the 
nurseryman of his legitimate reward; 
it seizes with avidity upon meat, end 
thus annoys the butcher and the 
house-keeper; it does not hesitate to 
use its sting, and thus threatens the 
comfort of persons. 
We have now passed in review 
many of the more striking insects; 
we have seen their intelligence, indus¬ 
try, adaptation to the demands of their 
life, metamorphoses, and must have 
been convinced of the constant exer¬ 
cise of a wisdom not finite, and of 
a charity larger than that which belongs to man. For such insects as are dependent 
thereupon, the maternal instinct is strongly developed m the parent; for those which 
in the larval condition require provision of food, food is supplied ; for others it is not. 
