File:The transformations (or metamorphoses) of insects (Insecta, Myriapoda, Arachnida, and Crustacea) - being an adaptation, for English readers, of M. Émile Blanchard's "Metamorphoses, moeurs et instincts (14761746386).jpg

Identifier: transformationso01dunc (find matches)
Title: The transformations (or metamorphoses) of insects (Insecta, Myriapoda, Arachnida, and Crustacea) : being an adaptation, for English readers, of M. Émile Blanchard's "Metamorphoses, moeurs et instincts des insects;" and a compilation from the works of Newport, Charles Darwin, Spence Bate, Fritz Müller, Packard, Lubbock, Stainton, and others
Year: 1870 (1870s)
Authors: Duncan, P. Martin (Peter Martin), 1821-1891 Blanchard, Emile, 1819-1900. Metamorphoses, moeurs et instincts des insects Conger, Paul S., former owner. DSI Abbott, Charles C., former owner. DSI
Subjects: Insects Insects Myriapoda Arachnida Crustacea
Publisher: Philadelphia : Claxton, Remsen, and Haffelfinger
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries

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them by the workers ; and there issome reason for believing that those larvae which eventually be-come mothers are fed upon an animal diet; and the others, whichbecome sterile, and turn into workers, are fed upon vegetablenourishment. There may be some truth in this opinion, butanother will be noticed further on. One of the most common wasps is the Wood or Bush Wasp(Vcspa sylvcstris). It is a little smaller than the common wasp,and it attaches its nest to the branches of trees and bushes,hangs it under roofs, or attaches it to the corners of walls. Thelittle delicate round nests of this species may often be metwith in the spring, and a very slight examination of one ofthem will prove that the covering, or envelope, is made up of asmooth, grey paper, which is slightly shiny and flexible, andperfectly impervious to water. A thick column is found in themiddle c>( the inside of the nest, sustaining a single comb, whichis coni):)osed of eight, ten, or twehc cells ; it is the work of the
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THE VESPID.-E. 235 mother wasp, which has passed through the winter in a con-dition of sleepy stupidity. After having built her nest, shedeposits an Qgg in each cell; and when the larvai are hatched,they become her workers and nurses. They enlarge the firstcomb by adding new cells around it ; then they construct a secondcomb, and attach it to the first by two or three pillars ; then athird is made, and fixed to the second ; and so on for a serieswhich may include a fourth, fifth, and a sixth comb. Thenumber of the combs varies according to the increase of the popu-lation of the nest. The whole has three papery envelopes, oneplaced over the other, and they serve to protect the combs, towhich, however, they are never attached. The largest nests aresometimes a foot in height; but whether they are large orsmall, they look very pretty amongst the foliage of beautifulbushes. The opening is situated at the lowest part of the nest,and underneath, and is always sufficiently large to give free

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