The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1890-12-17
Occasional Notes on our Insect
FRIENDSHIP. III.
j. G. NEAL, M. D.

what savage race OF WaSpS luCluucS Noiy
valuable friends, and helpers in the very
one-sided battle with his insect foes.
Between fear and prejudice, however,
wasps have no easy lot, and precar-
ious existence from the persistent efforts
of most plan ers and other intelligent
colored help, to destroy both nests and
"wassles." whenever found. lfone had
"eyes to see," then unkind treatment
would soon cease, as no class OF insects
are more interesting, and few rank as
near the front in point of Intelligence,
sagacity and reasoning powers as the
race of wasps.
About 900 species are known, vary
ing in size from the tiniest of sand wasps
less than one-fourth ofan inch in length,
to the gigantic tarantala killers of Texas,
nearly three inches long.
Some wasps are as social as bees, and
like them live in families, building nests
of paper, and like bees are male, female
and neuter sexes. Others are hermits,
living in burrows or making isolated
cells, the carniverous wasps are of es-
pecial Importance to us, as they are
predatory upon some of our worst
enemies, either as food for themselves or
for their young.
In this way they do good service to
our farming interests, destroying thou
sands of worms, flies, grasshoppers and
other insects, that otherwise would in
crease and become a plague. In 1880 l
was engaged in the study of the cotton
fly, and to my surprise found that one
of it's worst enemies was the wasp
family. This action showed, to say the
least, sagacity, of very high grade.
One of the most active OF the cotton
worm enemies was the Yellow Jacket
(Vispn Germ0inca.)
AS is we'll known, the cotton worm is
quite active often springing foot or
more from the plant or leaf If annoyed
or threatened by an enemy. In fact,
this gives an easy method of detecting
this worm, from other larvae that resem-
BILE it. When the cotton worm is placed
in the hand, it will at once begin active
motion, and at last spring off, not so
the worms of the HeliOthis or PrOde7aIG
they either coil up, or crawl slowly
away.
However, before the cotton worm be-
comes chrysalis, for several hours it
becomes sluggish, ceases to eat, and
does not spring when touched. The
Yellow Jacket passes over leaf in its
flight, the young worms spring and hide,
the old ones lie still, and there is the
wasp's opportunity which she improves
with a vengeance. Alighting, she
quickly bites out tiny slice of the side
of the worm, sips at the exuding juice,
and moment more is gone, to attack
another worm. One bite is enough, as
nature has made no provision for repair
in this case and the worm s fate is sealed.
For days I watched these "Jackets" and
found that they averaged nearly one a
minute, or a thousand day, and this
number meant great deal to the grow
er of the feecy crop, little though he
cared for his humble friends.
A larger species, usually called the
Bald Hornet (BemUeT) also did good
service, in nearly the same manner, but
true wasp--the one building large,
covered, paper nest filled with cells, ar
ranged in tiers-attacked all sizes of the
cotton worms, chewing into pulp the
smaller ones, and fercely biting pieces
from those more mature When it's
"crop" was full, it flew away to it's nest,
where it fed it's grub-like wasp-babies,
by disgorging this pulpy food into their
open mouths, that seemed ready for
meals at all hours. The tender care
shown by these wasp mothers for their
helpless progeny, is really affecting, and
would put to shame, by contrast, the
actions of many of our modern human
mothers. The small Guinea wasp
Polistes-building paper nest, of may
be dozen cells, not enclosed, attacks
the smaller worms, and very successful