The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-08-25

summer though a singer with an excru-
ciating twinge Is entirely different in his
habits from the plOdding humble bee He is
no honey gatherer. and hence Is never seen
on flowers. unless II be In some species 10
gather pollen
The nest is paper-made and generally
pear-shaped affair. and may be built un-
Ger projecting cornice. suspended from
the branch OF tree or clump OF bushes.
ana may vary in size from a gallon meas
ure 10 the dimensions OF a half bushel The
walls are OF several phys. entirely rain
PROOF. and as the structure is enlarged. the
inside Is cut away for room for the combs
OF which there may be a half-dozen neat
~ spread apart. the cells economically
accurate. In heXagonal form and probably
nearly foot In diameter.
The country-bred boy has perhaps
never lived that has not at some time
stoned a hornets nest. The sight of
these creatures Is marvellous. They will
take the direction Of the flying missile,
and, Ike shot. strike boy nifty yards
away. with almost enough momentum TO
knock him OFF his feet. When he nears
his mark. which is generally the boys
open countenance. in the region OF his
eyes, the hornet swings his business end
forward. seems to have his infamous
sunger protruding, using his body as a
manner 10 secure a deeper penetration.
and imparts sensation much like thar
u an Atlldu SCdluinE-knlfe.
The hornet does not hesitate to enter
the household kitchen in pursuit of flies.
and when one is captured the captor COM
placently sits on the wall or ceiling and
proceeds TO cut of the wings of his cap
tive.
This accomplished he sails Off to the
nest with his prey. which is fed TO the
young that are stin sticking in the comb.
here also the workers expire when the
autumn frosts come and a brood OF greens
goes forth for the next years supply
only on two occasions has the writer
seen colonies of hornets that burrowcd
underground and these, while hornet-llke
in. color and stripping. had the slender
form OF the large yellow jacket. They
were fighters of the first order. swift OF
wing and game to the last
OF the wasp tribes. several build as do
the hornet, although the little yellow jack
cts go underground
The long bodied highly polished steel
blue wasp is most peculiar creature.
This member OF the family known as
vespa has his abdomen Joined to the tho
rax with an unusually long pelicle and is
what is known as a mud builder. Under
rafters, in gloomy out of the way places
in buildings, may be found a clump of
dry mud, the work of this fine steel col
ored mud architect. This clod will be
found 10 be full Of chambers, smooth on
Der Is an egg, which the warmth VIII de-
velop into larvae and finally into a wasp.
This is accomplished in a month. But
most remarkable Is the provisions to main
tain the young creature until IL is able to
break the thinly soldere1 end and fly forth.
Into the cell with the egg, the wasp places
supply OF meadow spiders and these GU
riously enough are not dead. Neither are
they normally alive. but have been so
paralyzed as to be helpless and yet just
able to move. In this way, they remain as
fresh food for the maturing larvae, yet
incapable Of any defense.
on many occasions the writer has taken
these spiders from their prisons and pro-
tected them, but in no instance was there
recovery. II is marvellous that the wasp
should know just how much the constitu-
tion of the SPIDERS large and small, can
stand without fatal results. But this they
do without doubt. All the spider tribes
seem good hghters-at least where they
are sure that their victims can set up no
good defense. but they are born towards.
where cunning has no part In the game.
When the blue wasp fiutters over Mr..
| Spider. as he hangs TO his web at the
! side of a hay stack, or in the weeds, he
| is simply "paralyzed' with terror and
shows no resistance whatever.
The poor fly that he entraps in his
net struggles and implores mercy In a
doleful death song. but the cunning en-
gineer of the air gives up and is inglo-
riously mute. The wasp picks him from
| his perch, holds him In his tweezers,
but what he uses TO put the spider into
a cataleptic condition is unknown to
this deponent
But this wasp is not only a buccaneer.
but he is virtually encased In armor
plate without a vulnerable point, while
the entire anatomy of the spider is soft
and filled with tempting juices, to such
| creatures to which he serves as prey.
In the pumpkin flowers of the corn
field and in the the stately hollyhocks,
one can see forms of wasp life large and
small, and yet none of the many that
one may meet will give any intimation
of a singing equipment or offer to stand
on the defensive unless their domicile
is invaded, when they show a courage
which in man is extolled as the highest