Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1862-01-03
The Hornet

The habits OF species oi hornet Nesps)
~hleh build. its ne-t in th. ground have
b-.u dcscrihed by Prof JrIr-y. wymau.
Pr,.,d.n, OF tb. BJ.,ou Natural ili.'ory So.
e,siy. U :. The colony ws hr'i no''ord
toward. the cod Of August. while they were
making q ues, in the slope OF bank IN
Cambridge. The procOs. o' excavation vas
a,ll gang on. a. was oS'iou. from the '.e'
that each worker came out with pelle, OF
earth in Il. j,.s. \. Ion; ssShsy were not
in,sriered With they allowed an, one TO ar.
pro.ch quite ne,r 10 the nest and watch
their movements unmolc.,cd. The earth
which they brought oui MAS carried To q
considerable distance. 0n leaving the nest
they generally ro.e ei:h, or ten feet 10 the
ar aud GA running h-nSaih them and
watching them tall they wsr" io.' eight Of.
which VA. Usually a, a distance oi one hun
dred or tao hundred feet from the nest.
they yer. never .ccn - drop their load.
SOm-,,mss they 'rousni outs heavier
load th.n they could rise With on the wing.
When this "a. the case, after making s'''
.ral inedctuai Efforts ~ ay away. they al
~,y. carried II hack again INTO the hole.
When there ~s . s,rOns wind, they were
trrqsenily blown into the era.'. IRON which
they found !, dltheult - d'senaaee them
s.l,ss. bot, under sueh circams,anccs. they
never abandon their load. The number OF
arrival, aud departures ai the entrance Was
.otn.t,mes only I've . m'oais. and AZ other.
q. many ~ forty Eve. The rain did not
materially interfere With their work. oe
cl.lonally those goiu; in opposite d'rec
ton, hear the nest, met 10 the air. when
the one going out was almost always knock.
"a down by the one returning. the hr'' ba'-
ing the dl.aissntaes OF Just starting. s
we'll a. the sncambranee Of q load. Some
sugar. which ~.s placed near the entrance
Was not touched by them, aud was e'en'u'
ally carried away BY the ants. who were not
nol.s,.d. Fruit MAS Aisp left without bs.
lnr eaten by the h.rne,s. ln'cs,s thrown
down near the bols we're at once ssirsd and
carried IN.
A dragon ay, which after several a,."mp"
proved too heavy for one of them to mote.
vac cut 10 two by few strokes Of tho jaws.
and the hinder par, Of the abdomen carried
oa. Death va. an occasional visitor among
the lar,e. for their dead bodies were car
red TO . distance. Sopeiime. one and az
other. four OF FIVE. stood at the enirapcs.
performing no work, nor moving about. but
keeping their wings constantly vibrating.
The ob~c, Vt this did NJ, aPpsar, The
be,s have q solnswhi, similar habit Tor ven
til,a,ing their hi,... bot then u much larger
num,-r are associated fOr the purpJ-s.
whea the entrance to the excavation wss
accidentally injured Il Was repaired. OF II
an additional opening Vas made IL VA.
walled up. lfssinsll QUE. only q single
worker was employed on ita, the 'ams
time.
Such hole. which had BEEN nearly wall
ed ur. MAS r--opned BY one Of their num-
bsr. the new y-mads barrier broken do~n,
and the materials scattered about. Tor no
Obvious reason. While performing their
task the workers were troidsn upon aud
mos, unceruon,ously walked over by the
other. as they came aud went; bu, OF oil
this they took NJ notice. and continued Ut
their iAbor- as II UNCONSCIOUS Of the pre-
euee Of others. 4 compar,son OF the habits
Of the European and American ~a'p- shows
the existence o, two distinct groups both 10
the Old and IN the Now World: nns group
constructing their nest. Ia tree. or suspend.
ing them from the caves 0, houses. and the
other making them IN the ground. Those
having the latter hssi, are tho Vsspa vul.
glrs, Y. GermanicA, and V. rufa.