The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1899-09-26
ALL ABOUT The WASP.
Dr. Marshall Makes a Study of Him and
ellis of His disposition and Habits

Dr. Marshall Makes a Study of Him and
ellis of His disposition and Habits
The editor of the Chatham Record
r. Gently mentioned the scarcity of
wasps in Chatham and inquired if
these insects had been killed by the
severe weather of last winter. There
upon Dr.. Marshall, Of the Gastonia
Gazette, who is of an investigating
turn of mind, comes forward and testi
Fl q that the wasps are still with US
and fur Their proceeds to enlighten US
as to the nature and habits of these
insects. Tue doctor writes SO enter
tainingly about wasps that we feel
sure there is a good b in the expert
ment station a; Raleigh or in the Agri.
cultural D p8rtment at Washington
for q man who is so we'll posted on
this subject. Bat hear him:
Yes, there are WaspR; we've seen
them. There is a nest Of them outside
the writer's library window but inside
the shutter. A s3nge of s oite which
we have entertained eve sicce our
boyhood days is gTati1<d by teasing
them while a pane Of glass IF Jrds full
protection against their stings. Tap
ping a finger on the pane an inch from
the nest will cause them &c pounce
f~urioUsly upon the glass at that point.
They ere evidently pit zzled ever their
failure to pop their maddening poison
into the o%btrudipg member. Watching
them from time to time, we have learn.
ed something about w6sDs that we
didn't know before. We saw the ''Old
ones feeding the grubs that were not
yet old enough to be sealed up ia their
cells. The young grubs opened their
mouths enthusiastically, much like
young birds, and ate voraciously of
the 'morsels offered them from the
mandibles of the cOmmisary wasp.
Tnis get US to reading up on wasp
ology. Early in summer there was
only a cell or two, quite shallow, each
containing a tiny white egg, all cared
for by a single mother wasp that had
survived the winter. All male Wasps
die in the fall, Immediately upon
breaking up time. Oaly the females
survive the winter, and they do so in
we'll protected hiding places under
rocks and the Ike.
In eight or ten DAYS the eggs hatch
or develop into lary &c These are fed
by the mother for about the same
length of time until they are sealed
up. There they stay for another week
or ten days until they are ready to
make their debut into society-ful
h3dged wasps. But these are not
males or females; they are neuters,
or workers, r3ared to assist the lone
mother in her arduous domestic du-
ties. More cells are built and more
wasps are added to the working force.
The window colony now numbers
about two.doz9n wasps with a bunch
Of cells as big as your fist, work going
on with q rush.
S M OF the mother Wasps' eggs hatch
out neuters and some females, but
none of them males. The eggs from
which the males are produced are laid
by the neuters-so that the male wasp
is in the funny sort Of predicament Of
having no father and of being the
grandson of his own mther.
Bye-and bye breaking up time
comes, somewhat suddenly. Tee
larv ae On hand are slain; the workers,
their mission ended. go away to their
brief journeys end, the males and fe-
males fl high up in the air in their
mating, Immediately after which the
males die and the females find the
hiding places which are to protect
them until nesting time comes again.