Of these we have only seven different kinds, and with the exception of the
hornet they are all very much alike. One often hears people say that they
have seen such a large wasp that they think it must have been a hornet, but
no one who has ever seen a hornet could mistake a wasp for one. A hornet is
_red-brown_ with yellow markings (pl. B, 13), a wasp is _black_ and yellow,
and altogether a less formidable-looking creature (pl. B, 14). Even a queen
wasp is not so large as a small worker hornet. The hornet nests in hollow
trees, our three commoner wasps nest, as a rule, in the ground, but
occasionally in outhouses, under roofs, etc. One of the others as a rule
makes its nest in shrubs, but occasionally in the ground, another always
nests in a bush or shrub, preferring a gooseberry or currant bush, and the
only remaining one is a cuckoo of one of the ground species. The
gooseberry-bush {36} wasp is not a common species in the south, but in the
midlands and north it is abundant. Wasps will eat most things, but are
especially fond of syrups and sweets. One species, _Vespa sylvestris_,
which seldom enters our houses, is very partial to the flowers of
_Scrophularia_ (Figwort). One rarely finds a plant of this in full blossom
without finding its attendant wasps. I have seen other species of wasps
also visiting it, but _sylvestris_ is practically sure to be there. The
diet which wasps provide for their larvae is probably a mixed one, but
consists largely of insects. Dr. Ormerod says that a microscopic
examination of the contents of a larval stomach shows "the mass to consist
of scales, hairs and other fragments of insects, hairs of vegetables and
other substances less easy of recognition."
[Illustration: PLATE B.
10. _Colletes succinctus_, _female._ 11. _Sphecodes subquadratus_,
_female._ 12. _Halictus leucozonius_, _female._ 13. _Vespa crabro_,
_female._ 14. _Vespa vulgaris_, _female._ 15. _Andrena fulva_, _male._ 16.
_Andrena fulva_, _female._ 17. _Panurgus banksianus_, _female._ 18. _Nomada
ruficornis_, _var. signata_, _female._ 19. _Epeolus rufipes_, _female._
[_face p. 36._ ]
{37} Wasps do not store honey in their nest; the papery nature of their
cells would make such storage impossible. I dare say some of my readers
will have noticed wasps sitting in the sun on a wooden paling busily
engaged apparently eating something--they are really pulling off little
fibres of wood which they chew up into a substance fitted for the walls of
their cells; they will also chew paper, and the experiment has been tried
of giving them coloured papers, which resulted in stripes of colour
appearing in their nests. The different species vary somewhat in the
architecture of their nests; but they are built very much on the same
general plan. The population of some underground nests is very large. The
Rev. G. A. Crawshay estimated the number in a large nest of _Vespa
vulgaris_, which he took on September 20, 1904, at about 12,000; of these
he actually counted, including eggs and larvae, 11,370, and estimated the
rest as having left the nest and escaped, so that anyhow the computation
cannot be far wrong. This, however, was probably a very large nest. The
cuckoo wasp (_Vespa austriaca_), formerly known as _V. arborea_, is an
associate of _Vespa rufa_; its habits had been suspected for a long time,
but Mr. Robson set all doubts at rest by finding the nymphs of the cuckoo
in the actual nest of _rufa_. It is a rare species in the south, but far
from uncommon as one goes north, and also in Ireland, where the
relationship of the host and cuckoo have been {38} carefully studied by
Prof. Carpenter and Mr. Pack Beresford. _Vespa vulgaris_ has a beetle
parasite, but this is somewhat of a rarity. This creature _Metoecus
paradoxus_ lays its egg in the cell of the wasp, and enters the body of the
larva, eventually entirely devouring it. The hornet also has a beetle
associate, but this is a great rarity. It is a large black species of the
"Devil's coach horse" or "Cock tail" tribe (_Velleius dilatatus_), but in
what relation it stands to the hornet beyond inhabiting its nest is not
known.
* * * * *
{39}