Abstract
A MODERATELY sized underground nest of the common wasp (Vespa vulgaris) examined by me on July 27, 1915, in Selkirkshire, was 8 in. in diameter, and contained an adult population of 417 workers and the queen. In addition, the six cell-flats of the nest contained 1159 eggs, 1216 larvæ, and 1076 pupæ, all of the first brood; 288 eggs, 248 larvæ, and 144 pupæ of the second brood; and 42 eggs, 30 larvæ, and 14 pupæ of the third brood. The actual living total at the time of examination, including eggs, larvæ, pupæ, and adults, was therefore 4635. In addition, there had apparently hatched from the cells then occupied by second and third broods 852 individuals, of which only 417 were accounted for when the nest was exterminated; the surplus brings the total to more than 5000. This was a nest which, when it was destroyed, had completed only the least active half of the wasp season.
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RITCHIE, J. Wasps. Nature 103, 245 (1919). https://doi.org/10.1038/103245b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/103245b0
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