THE SILK SPUN BY THE LARVAE OF CERTAIN SOCIAL WASPS

Extract

The larva of Vespa maculata spins for itself an entire cocoon, a cell lining, plus a lid to its cell. The number of these linings, placed one atop another, shows how often the cell has been occupied by these young wasps. The masses of hard, chalky, red material found in each cell also show by their number how many times the compartment has been used. Each silken lining can be peeled off ; each bag is complete, and at its bottom is this hardened mass of excrement. When one makes a cross-section of the nest, one finds mass upon mass at the bottom of the cells, but each mass is distinct, separated from the others by this tissue.