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esp. any of the numerous species of the genus Vespa, which includes the true, or social, wasps, some of which are called yellow jackets.

Resembling a wasp in form; having a slender waist, like a wasp.

A West Indian lizard (Celestus occiduus), about a foot long, imagined by the natives to be venomous.

Producing males from unfertilized eggs, as certain wasps and bees.

A nest of wild bees, wasps, or ants; a swarm. [Scot.] Sir W. Scott.

heir wings. Hence: To utter a murmuring sound; to speak with a low, humming voice. Like a wasp is buzzed, and stung him. Longfellow. However these disturbers of our peace Buzz in the people's ears. Shak.

To clog, as with glutinous or viscous matter. A swarm of wasps got into a honey pot, and there they cloyed and clammed Themselves till there was no getting out again. L'Estrange.

The mud wasp; the mud dauber.

One who, or that which, digs. Digger wasp (Zoöl.), any one of the fossorial Hymenoptera.

A group of hymenopterous insects including the sand wasps. They excavate cells in earth, where they deposit their eggs, with the bodies of other insects for the food of the young when hatched. [Written also Fossoria.]

called also blue-eyed yellow warbler, garden warbler, and summer yellow bird. -- Golden wasp (Zoöl.), a bright-colored hymenopterous insect, of the family Chrysididæ. The colors are golden, blue, and green. -- Golden wedding. See under Wedding.

A large, strong wasp. The European species (Vespa crabro) is of a dark brown and yellow color. It is very pugnacious, and its sting is very severe. Its nest is constructed of a paperlike material, and the layers of comb are hung together by columns. The American white- faced hornet (V. maculata) is larger and has simil…

erella, found on the apple tree. -- Leaf valve, a valve which moves on a hinge. -- Leaf wasp (Zoöl.), a sawfiy. -- To turn over a new leaf, to make a radical change for the better in one's way of living or doing. [Colloq.] They were both determined to turn over a new leaf. Richardson.

Crafty; cunning; mischievous; wicked; treacherous; lazy.[Archaic] He [the dwarf] was waspish, arch, and litherly. Sir W. Scott.

ecause it cements other shells and pebbles upon its own shell; a carrier shell. -- Mason wasp (Zoöl.), any wasp that constructs its nest, or brood cells, of hardened mud. The female fills the cells with insects or spiders, paralyzed by a sting, and thus provides food for its larvæ

ud dab (Zoöl.), the winter flounder. See Flounder, and Dab. -- Mud dauber (Zoöl.), a mud wasp. -- Mud devil (Zoöl.), the fellbender. -- Mud drum (Steam Boilers), a drum beneath a boiler, into which sediment and mud in the water can settle for removal. -- Mud eel (Zoöl.), a long, slender, aquatic amphibian (Siren la…

rm with the hands or tools. "My thoughts are whirled like a potter's wheel." Shak. Potter wasp (Zoöl.), a small solitary wasp (Eumenes fraternal) which constructs a globular nest of mud and sand in which it deposits insect larvæ, such as cankerworms, as food for its young.

A European gold wasp (Chrysis ignita) which has the under side of the abdomen bright red, and the other parts deep bluish green with a metallic luster. The larva is parasitic in the nests of other wasps and of bees.

nsects is destitute of wings and has a powerful sting. The male is winged and resembles a wasp. Called also spider ant. -- Solitary bee (Zoöl.), any species of bee which does not form communities. -- Solitary sandpiper (Zoöl.), an American tattler (Totanus solitarius). -- Solitary snipe (Zoöl.), the great snipe. [Pr…

Any one of numerous species of sand wasps of the genus Sphex and allied genera. These wasps have the abdomen attached to the thorax by a slender pedicel. See Illust. of Sand wasp, under Sand. Sphex fly (Zoöl.), any one of numerous species of small dipterous flies of the genus Conops and allied genera. The form of the b…