WASHO. 327 WASP. customs beyond the fact that their women are noted for their beautiful basketry. They have no recognized territory and no relation.s with the Government, but get their subsistence from seeds, pifions, small game, and by labor for the whites. They number about 250. WASIELEWSKI, vii'sya-lgf'sk^, .Jo.sepu WiLHELM VON ( lS-"'2-90) . A German violinist and writer on music, born at Gross-Leesen, near Danzig. He studied at Leipzig under David, Hauptmann, and Jiendclssohn, became a member of the Gewandhaus Orchestra, and was concert- meister at Diisseldorf under Schumann from 1850 to 1852. Later he conducted the new Choral Society at Bonn. In 1855 he settled at Dresden and devoted himself to literary work. From 1809 to 1884 he was city music director at Bonn, and in 1884 he retired to Sonders- hausen. Among his works are: liohert Scliii- tnann. Eine liiographie (3d ed. 1880) ; with important supplementary matter in Hchumann- iijnna (1884); Die VioHue mid ihre Meisler (3d ed. 1880) ; Geschichte der Instrumental- musik im 16. Jahrhundcrt (1878); Beethoven (1888); Das Violoncell mid seine Geschichte (1889) ; Carl Reineckc, sein Leien, Wirken und Schaffen (1892). Among his compositions are: HerbstHumen, a set of nine violin pieces; a Nocturne for violin with the pianoforte: the ICaiserlied im Tolkston; and other patriotic songs. WASMES, vam. The capital of an arron- dissement in the Province of Hainault, Belgium, 6 miles southwest of Jlons. It is in the Bori- nage, a region noted for its extensive coal-min- ing interests. Population, in 1900, 14,060. WASP (AS. tto-sp, weeps, OHG. wefsa, MHG. iccfse, wcspe, Ger. Wespe, wasp ; connected with Lat. vespa, OBret. gnohi, OChurch Slav, vosa, wasp, Lith. vapsa, gadfly). Any insect of the hymenopterous superfamilies Vespoidea and Sphecoidea, most of the former being known as 'social' wasps, and of the latter as 'solitary' wasps. All of the social wasps belong to the Vespoidea, and according to the present classifi- cation there have been added to the group, from structural peculiarities, the wasps of the families Pompilida;, Eumenidae, SapygidiP, Scoliidse, My- zinidiie, Tiphiidae, and Thynnidis, all of which lead solitary lives. The superfamilies also contain the so-called solitary velvet ants (q.v.) and the cuckoo-flies, 'gold wasps' (famil.v Chrysididae ) , as well as two families of parasitic wasps, the Bethylidip, formerly placed in the Proctotrypoi- dea, and the Trigonalidse, fornierlv placed with the ichneumon-flies. All wasps belong to the old group Aculeata, which includes the so-called stinging Hymenoptera. The social wasps have the sting always issuing from the tip of the abdo- men, the pronotum not extending back to the teguIsB, the tarsi slender and not dilated or thickened as with the bees. The solitary wasps (superfamily Sphecoidea) are separated from the social wasps by the pronotum, which extends back to the tegulfp when these are present; the tro- chanters are one-jointed. These wasps are dis- tinguished from the ants by the fact that the first segment of the abdomen is simple and does not contain swellings. With the exception of the mainly tropical honey- wasps (genus Nectarina), all the young wasps are fed for the most part upon other in- sects or insect remains. The true social wasps of the United States (see heading Social Insects in article Insects) belong to the genera Vespa and Polistes, the former including the species which make the paper nests with an outer cover- ing, and usually composed of several layers of combs; the latter containing the common, long- bodied black wasps with folded wings which Iniild nests of a single comb without any papery en- velope. (See Figure 5. Cohjrcd I'late of In- sects.) These wasps often build their nests in barns and outhouses, but sometimes also in bushes or upon the lower surfaces of stones slightly raised from the ground. The cells of one of these wasps' nests are hexagonal, in a single layer instead of two, as with the higher bees, and usually vertical instead of horizontal. With some species the nest consists of but a single comb, as with Polistes. and with others of a series of combs in tiers, and the whole inclosed in a spherical case made of many thicknesses of paper, as with many of the 'espas. The nests are en- larged by adding cells to the edges of the comb, sj)ace being gained by removing the inner layers of the envelope. These removed portions are masticated and added to the outside. An egg is laid in each cell, and the young larva when hatch- ing hangs with its head downward, suspended by a gummy excretion from the anus. They are constantly fed by the workers and females with the juices of fruits, flowers, and the masticated remains of insects. When full grown they spin silken cocoons, the lower end of which serves as a cap to the cell. After the adult wasp has emerged the cell is cleaned out and a new egg laid in it. With the larger nest-builders, a month or less elapses from the laying of the egg to the emergence of the adult. Several genera- tions may be reared in the same cell. The largest of the American social wasps is the so-called white-faced hornet (Vespa maculata). The Eurojiean hornet (^'espa crahro) has been accidentally introduced into the United States and has established itself near New York City. (See Hornet.) The smaller species of Vespa, which are generally marked with yellow and are often known as 'yellowjackets.' frequently nest beneath stumps or stones, although their nests are often also found hanging from rafters and the branches of trees. The nests of Vespa ger- manica, a small yellowjacket, are commonly found near the ground, and often exceed a foot in diameter. Access to the nest is gained by one or two circular or oval openings about three- quarters of an inch in diameter, which lead di- rectly to the ccnti'e of the nest. The loose outer papery covering is by no means as tough and firm as with the hornets. The combs are built in eight or more horizontal layers attached to each other by strong supports.- As a rule the males and queens of true social wasps are not developed until toward autumn, at which time larger cells, always to be found in the lower combs of a nest, are made for their reception. The tropical social wasps of the genus Polybia and its allies build enormous nests. A species which occurs in Ceylon has nests which frequent- ly reach a length of six feet. The nest of the Brazilian Poli/hia scutelaris is a solid closed structure covered externally with rough knobs or angular projections. The nests of another
