The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1873-11-14
ABOUT WASPS.

ABOUT WASPS.
A tropical wasp differes very greatly
from the kind we are accustomed to see
in this country. 1t is double the size
though with the same tapering shape
and most handsomely marked in black
and yellow rings They are very com
mon in Africa, and much feared by the
natives, who dread the great pain and
swelling which follow a sting. They
are fond of hanging their combs on
small trees and bushes, and in clearing
jungle the men often get stung. Two
or three are sufficient to cause tempo.
rary fever, and they always pick out a
most tender spot, such as the ear, eyelid,
or the tip of the nose. I was on one
occasion much interested in the move
ments of lady-wasp building her nest.
She commenced on a hot summers day
in February, by coming into the room
where was reading, and buzzing around
all the corners until she had selected
one. Then she went out, and returned
with little lump of clay as big as q
pea, which she stuck against the wall
with her two front legs, humming all
the time. When that was done, she
fetched another, adding piece to piece,
until by night she had completed hol-
low cell as big as a pencil, and about
an inch long. One end was closed, the
other open. Next morning found her
hard at work again, carrying something
which afterward found were spiders,
and, placing them inside the cell until
it was full, then she closed it up, and
set about constructing another on the
| top of the first. This process went on
| for a week, when she had made seven
cells, one above the other, completing
one every day. She did not work any
more, though continually flying in and
out and buzzing around the nest, until
one day soon atterward, it fell down
during gale of wind. Luckily it lighted
on the sofa, and was not smashed. 1
was very curious to find out what she
had been putting inside, and proceeded
to open each cell with my penknife.
The clay had become dry and hard, and
it was not easy to do but with care
got the contents out unharmed. No.
had partition in the center, making
two chambers. Each contained small
grub, with a white transparent skin
about half an inch long, and the size of
crow-quill. In the first were two spi-
ders, and in the other one partially eat
en-. There is no doubt they were placed
there as food for the young wasps, for,
on my putting the already eaten one
close to their mouths, they both laid
hold of it with a sucking motion. No. 2
cell contained the young in a different
stage. 1t had slightly shriveled up,
and was yellower than the others. It
also had a brownish outer skin like
that of a chrysalis, bound round with a
few silky webs resembling those of a
cocoon. There were two spiders it'll it.
No. was filed with twenty spiders, on
one of which I found a tiny oblong
transparent eye, or more propably a
grub, though could not make out the
mouth, and all the others were the
same, only differing in the size of the
grub, and the number of the spiders
the former increasing as the latter les
sened.
What puzzles me is how they get out
when arrived at maturity, as their pri-
son is formed of such hard material.
can understand how, from being almost
microscopic, they become large grubs
after eating twenty spiders, how they
then become a chrysalis, and lastly a
full-grown wasp, but not how they
break the strong clay walls and get into
the open air.
Most of the spiders were of the COM
mon home sort, all but three, and those
had never seen before. One was a
delicate green, and 1 think the wasp
must have sharp eyes to distinguish it
from the grass. A jet black one with
yellow feelers, was very like a beetle in
shape, and the third had green front
and yellow afterpart, with a red stripe
bn
found it very interesting. Since that
once lived in a room that was not pa
pered, but merely painted over the plas-
ter and the wasps came in in dozens.
Two built nests like the one I have des-
holes in the walls, in the hard plaster,
never could quite clearly make out what
they did it for, but I believe they were
carrying off the clay of which the plaster
was made to make nests with in other
places. Afterward, in a sugar mill I saw
the walls similarly pierced.
Talking of wasps, brings up the sub
ject of honey. I believe it is not gen.
orally known that in the interior of At
rica there is q small fly that makes
honey in large quantities, as good, if
not better, than that of the bee. have
often eaten it while shooting. This lit
tie fly bores minute hole in the earth
eighteen to twenty-four inches deep,
which it lines with clay. It then forms
a round lump as large as turnip, the
shell being of hard earth or clay bound
together with some sticky substance,
and the inside pure honey. 1t it very
liquid, and has a slightly acid taste, and !
though rather difficult to eat without |
getting any earth in ones mouth, it is |
capital, and well worth the trouble of |
digging up. The place is found like a |
bees nest. by seeing the fly alight and
90 down the mouth of the little hole, |
and it is curious that the honey-bird |
never leads one to it.
The way this little bird, which some
what resembles our water -wagtail, fol- |
lows and persecutes any human being
it may see until it gets them to follow,
is one of the most curious things in ma
tural history. It makes sharp chitter, |
fitting in front from tree to tree, COM
ing back every now and then to see that
you are going in the right direction un-
til you get into the neighborhood of the
nest, when, after telling you, by slight |
change in its demeanor, that you are
close to the spot, it flies off to neigh
boring tree, and watches your opera
tions. Failing a bees nest, it may take
you to anything unusual it may see-a
large snake, tiger, or even human
being. Game in much-hunted districts
learn to connect the chitter of this bird
with the presence of man, and keep
sharp lookout when they hear it.-LG9ad
and Water.
Fortune Telling.
The nuisance of fortune-telling has
L