VOLUME ELEVEN NUMBER FOUR

JOURNAL
OF
ENTOMOLOGY
AND
ZOOLOGY

DECEMBER, 1919

PUBLISHED QUARTERLY BY
POMONA COLLEGE DEPARTMENT of ZOOLOGY
CLAREMONT, CALIFORNIA, U. S. A.

CONTENTS

Entered Claremont, Cal., Post-Office Oct. 1, 1910, as second-class matter, under Act of Congress of March 3, 1879

Journal of Entomology and Zoology

EDITED BY POMONA COLLEGE, DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY

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The Journal of Entomology and Zoology
William A. Hilton, Editor
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Notes on the Behavior of the Social Wasp Polistes

HORACE GUNTHORP
Washburn College, Topeka, Kans.

One day last September the writer picked up a nest of the common social wasp, Polistes, which had been detached from its support, and placed it upon his desk. A short time later he was attracted by a scratching sound, and discovered that one of the wasps was just beginning to cut the cap from its cell preparatory to emerging. During the next few days a series of observations were made and notes taken covering the behavior of the wasps which emerged from their cells during that period. Miss Enteman[A] has made a careful study of the instincts of the social wasps, and while the observations recorded in the present paper are largely corroborative of her work, some interesting details are here added.

The cutting of the cap of the cell occupied some time, and extended around four-fifths of its circumference, the remaining one-fifth being gnawed and partially chewed through so that it was flexible enough to act as a hinge for the cap. After the cap was sufficiently cut away, the wasp started to slowly work itself out, pushing up the top of the cell like a trap door as progress was made. A good deal of effort was required to get the body out until the front legs were freed. Then the wasp had more purchase and progress was somewhat faster until the second pair of legs came out. After this slight effort seemed to be necessary for the completion of the operation.

For the next thirty minutes careful observations were made of the movements of this wasp in order to ascertain its first reactions. It is evident that they would be somewhat modified from what they are here recorded if the colony had contained the queen and other workers, as this specimen had the run of the entire nest, and none of its movements were effected by those of other individuals. It is equally evident that all stimuli came from within, or from contact with the nest, and not from suggestions received from other individuals or from contact with them. The following is the record made at one minute intervals, beginning with the time the specimen left its cell: