The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1890-12-17

both large insects, and succeed in retain
ing them in tobacco fields from March
to July.
Every grower of this filthy weed
knows that during this period, the plant
suffers greatly from the ravages of the
Horn worm Phlegethontius and the Dia-
mond hack worm PrOdeaa6G, and that the
greatest expense and labor is incurred,
in preventing these "would. be-monopo-
lists" from utterly destroying the plant.
This summer one of our largest plant
ers of tobacco had his crop saved for him
by the efforts of few of these wasps,
and it was interesting to see the actions
of these insects.
Beginning at the lowest leaf, the wasp
futtered swiftly beneath, tearing off the
smaller worms, and greedily chewing
them up, and if it met with one nearly
full size, it flew astride the uplifted
head, clasped the body with it's six
strong legs and savagely wrenched off the
head with its powerful jaws, slipped
little of the life-juices and resumed it's
soft futtering in search of more victims.
In this manner a few wasps soon so
cleared the field that [ was unable to
find a single good specimen Of the worm.
Really the work was more complete
than could have been done in a much
longer time by dozen common labor
erS.
The life history of these paper-making
wasps, PolIstes, may be interesting to
my readers, and perhaps give clue to
measures for propagation of such useful
friends.
Before cold weather, after impregnat-
ing the young females, the males die,
the first frost usually kills the neuters
while the females dispense and hide UNI
der logs, bark, fence corners, ETC., till
warm weather in February, when thew
may be seen flying slow y around old
buildings, bushes and trees, searching
for suitable sites for the new nests they
propose making.
Often two of these "queens" combine
and together build series of cells. At
after an egg is deposited in each cup-like
space, they build up the sides till nearly
regular hexagons ensue. The eggs bach
become grub-like, whitish, footless larvae,
that hang head down, and are fed hourly
by the queens, at first by disgorged food
from the maternal 'crops," and later on,
by partially chewed up small worms
and flies.
When the young wasps emerge they
aid in enlarging the nest and before fall,
there is large colony of the three sexes
the small males, that do no labor, the
medium sized neuters that now do most of
the building and care for the young, the
larger queens that only lay eggs. And
so from year to year there is rise and
fall of the VespGs, PONstes, Bemaber and
other of the wasp families. During the
early spring months, then, never kill
wasp, as each one represents summer
col ony, and never destroy nest, for it's
val e cannot be represented in dollars
and cents.
Another tiny insect, the Potter wasp
(EWnaenes fraterm0) is especially valua-
BILE to the fruit grower. 1t builds cum
ming little clay vases or jugs, and fills
them with small worms, notably tent
caterpillars, cotton worms and boil
worms. These are stung into insensibil-
ity, packed away alive, an egg laid in
their midst, which, when Matched finds
it's proper food in quantity, fresh and
juicy.
Late in the summer, many of the trees
of Florida are nearly stripped of foliage
by the Orange striped Oak worm-Ami-
sofa Senatorial, but it might be worse,
only that sand-Wasp, Ammophila-uti
ICES the worms as provision for her nests.
She paralyzes worm by her powerful
sting, when it drops to the ground, there
she flies astride, lifts it nearly clear by
her central legs, catches up the head with
her jaws, and drags it often many yards
IN bor bOlo thon Iocoon1ino hoo u,or1c