File:The history of birds - their varieties and oddities, comprising graphic descriptions of nearly all known species of birds, with fishes and insects, the world over, and illustrating their varied (14563910339).jpg

Identifier: historyofbirdsth00bing (find matches)
Title: The history of birds : their varieties and oddities, comprising graphic descriptions of nearly all known species of birds, with fishes and insects, the world over, and illustrating their varied habits, modes of life, and distinguishing peculiarities by means of delightful anecdotes and spirited engravings
Year: 1880 (1880s)
Authors: Bingley, William, 1774-1823
Subjects: Birds Zoology
Publisher: Philadelphia : Edgewood Publishing Co.
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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orpid state, arethe only ones that remain alive. Thus terminates this society, of which the greatest populationdoes not often exceed the number of a hundred or a hundred and fiftyindividuals. The combs are composed of a substance which somewhat resembleacoarse paper or old parchment. These insects are extremely voracious. They seize upon anddevour, with great eagerness, other insects, and frequently evenbees. Their size gives them a superiority over almost all the flieswhich they attack; but as they are somewhat slow and heavy in theirflight, these are frequently able, by their greater agility, to escape. THE COMMON WASP The nest of the common Wasp is always formed under the snrfac«of the earth, and these insects not unfrequently occupy with it the for-saken dwelling of a mole. The entrance to the nest is a passageusually about an inch in diameter, from half a foot to two feet deep,and generally in a zigzag direction. When exposed to the view, the whole nest appears to be of a round-
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wasps mest. 519 520 THE COMMON WASP. ish form, ai^d is twelve or fourteen inclies in diameter. It is stronglyfortified all round witli walls, in layers, formed of a substance some-vrhat like paper, the surface of which is rough and irregular. In thesewalls, or rather in this external covering, two holes are left forpassages to the combs, one of which is uniformly adopted for entrance,and the other as a passage out. The interior of the nest consists ofseveral stories, or floors of combs, which are parallel to each other,and nearly in an horizontal position. Every story is composed of aiDumerous assemblage of hexagonal cells. These ^.ontain neither waxnor honey, but are solely destined for containing the eggs, the wormswhich are hatched from them, the chrysalids, and the young Waspsuntil they are able to fly. The. combs are from eleven to twelve innumber. Reaumur computed the number of cells in the combs of amiddle-sized nest to be at least ten thousand ; and as every cell servesfor thr

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