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numerous large combs in which the leader, the so-called mother, engenders no
longer working-wasps but mothers. These develop high up in the nest as large
grubs, in cells that occur in groups of four or rather more, pretty much in the
same way as we have seen the grubs of the king-bees to be produced in their
cells. After the birth of the working-grubs in the cells, the leaders do nothing
and the workers have to supply them with nourishment; and this is inferred
from the fact that the leaders (of the working-wasps) no longer fly out at this
time, but rest quietly indoors. Whether the leaders of last year after
engendering new leaders are killed by the new brood, and whether this occurs
invariably or whether they can live for a longer time, has not been ascertained
by actual observation; neither can we speak with certainty, as from
observation, as to the age attained by the mother-wasp or by the wild wasps,
or as to any other similar phenomenon. The mother-wasp is broad and heavy,
fatter and larger than the ordinary wasp, and from its weight not very strong
on the wing; these wasps cannot fly far, and for this reason they always rest
inside the nest, building and managing its indoor arrangements. The so-called
mother-wasps are found in most of the nests; it is a matter of doubt whether or
no they are provided with stings; in all probability, like the king-bees, they
have stings, but never protrude them for offence. Of the ordinary wasps some
are destitute of stings, like the drone-bees, and some are provided with them.
Those unprovided therewith are smaller and less spirited and never fight,
while the others are big and courageous; and these latter, by some, are called
males, and the stingless, females. At the approach of winter many of the
wasps that have stings appear to lose them; but we have never met an
eyewitness of this phenomenon. Wasps are more abundant in times of drought
and in wild localities. They live underground; their combs they mould out of
chips and earth, each comb from a single origin, like a kind of root. They feed
on certain flowers and fruits, but for the most part on animal food. Some of
the tame wasps have been observed when sexually united, but it was not
determined whether both, or neither, had stings, or whether one had a sting
and the other had not; wild wasps have been seen under similar
circumstances, when one was seen to have a sting but the case of the other
was left undetermined. The wasp-grub does not appear to come into existence
by parturition, for at the outset the grub is too big to be the offspring of a
wasp. If you take a wasp by the feet and let him buzz with the vibration of his
wings, wasps that have no stings will fly toward it, and wasps that have stings
will not; from which fact it is inferred by some that one set are males and the
other females. In holes in the ground in winter-time wasps are found, some
with stings, and some without. Some build cells, small and few in number;
others build many and large ones. The so-called mothers are caught at the
change of season, mostly on elm-trees, while gathering a substance sticky and
gumlike. A large number of mother-wasps are found when in the previous
1224
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book The Complete Aristotle"
The Complete Aristotle
- Title
- The Complete Aristotle
- Author
- Aristotle
- Date
- ~322 B.C.
- Language
- English
- License
- PD
- Size
- 21.0 x 29.7 cm
- Pages
- 2328
- Keywords
- Philosophy, Antique, Philosophie, Antike, Dialogues, Metaphysik, Metaphysics, Ideologie, Ideology, Englisch
- Categories
- Geisteswissenschaften
- International
Table of contents
- Part 1; Logic (Organon) 3
- Categories 4
- On Interpretation 34
- Prior Analytics, Book I 56
- Prior Analytics, Book II 113
- Posterior Analytics, Book I 149
- Posterior Analytics, Book II 193
- Topics, Book I 218
- Topics, Book II 221
- Topics, Book III 237
- Topics, Book IV 248
- Topics, Book V 266
- Topics, Book VI 291
- Topics, Book VII 317
- Topics, Book VIII 326
- On Sophistical Refutations 348
- Part 2; Universal Physics 396
- Physics, Book I 397
- Physics, Book II 415
- Physics, Book III 432
- Physics, Book IV 449
- Physics, Book V 481
- Physics, Book VI 496
- Physics, Book VII 519
- Physics, Book VIII 533
- On the Heavens, Book I 570
- On the Heavens, Book II 599
- On the Heavens, Book III 624
- On the Heavens, Book IV 640
- On Generation and Corruption, Book I 651
- On Generation and Corruption, Book II 685
- Meteorology, Book I 707
- Meteorology, Book II 733
- Meteorology, Book III 760
- Meteorology, Book IV 773
- Part 3; Human Physics 795
- On the Soul, Book I 796
- On the Soul, Book II 815
- On the Soul, Book III 840
- On Sense and the Sensible 861
- On Memory and Reminiscence 889
- On Sleep and Sleeplessness 899
- On Dreams 909
- On Prophesying by Dreams 918
- On Longevity and the Shortness of Life 923
- On Youth, Old Age, Life and Death, and Respiration 929
- Part 4; Animal Physics 952
- The History of Animals, Book I 953
- The History of Animals, Book II translated 977
- The History of Animals, Book III 1000
- The History of Animals, Book IV 1029
- The History of Animals, Book V 1056
- The History of Animals, Book VI 1094
- The History of Animals, Book VII 1135
- The History of Animals, Book VIII 1150
- The History of Animals, Book IX 1186
- On the Parts of Animals, Book I 1234
- On the Parts of Animals, Book II 1249
- On the Parts of Animals, Book III 1281
- On the Parts of Animals, Book IV 1311
- On the Motion of Animals 1351
- On the Gait of Animals 1363
- On the Generation of Animals, Book I 1381
- On the Generation of Animals, Book II 1412
- On the Generation of Animals, Book III 1444
- On the Generation of Animals, Book IV 1469
- On the Generation of Animals, Book V 1496
- Part 5; Metaphysics 1516
- Part 6; Ethics and Politics 1748
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book I 1749
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book II 1766
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book III 1779
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IV 1799
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book V 1817
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VI 1836
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VII 1851
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VIII 1872
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IX 1890
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book X 1907
- Politics, Book I 1925
- Politics, Book II 1943
- Politics, Book III 1970
- Politics, Book IV 1997
- Politics, Book V 2023
- Politics, Book VI 2053
- Politics, Book VII 2065
- Politics, Book VIII 2091
- The Athenian Constitution 2102
- Part 7; Aesthetic Writings 2156