Wasps and their ways . HAVING EYES, THEY SEE. ALTHOUGH the Vespae have formedviolent attachments to most ofus at one time or another, so that we mayconsider ourselves fairly well acquaintedwith them, our attention has been mainlydirected to their sting end and to theirgeneral personal appearance. We know Vespa, but few of us havegiven much thought to her eyes, thoughthose bright orbs were no doubt respon-sible for the success with which she at-tached herself without invitation to ourpersons. Besides the two compound eyes withwhich we are all familiar she has a groupof three simple ones, which
Wasps and their ways . HAVING EYES, THEY SEE. ALTHOUGH the Vespae have formedviolent attachments to most ofus at one time or another, so that we mayconsider ourselves fairly well acquaintedwith them, our attention has been mainlydirected to their sting end and to theirgeneral personal appearance. We know Vespa, but few of us havegiven much thought to her eyes, thoughthose bright orbs were no doubt respon-sible for the success with which she at-tached herself without invitation to ourpersons. Besides the two compound eyes withwhich we are all familiar she has a groupof three simple ones, which she, like theCyclops, wears in the middle of her fore-head, but which by no means afford her 31 32 WASPS AND THEIR WAYS Cyclopean vision. Indeed, many writersdeny to them any serviceable functionwhatever. They allow them a certainsensitiveness to light, but that is all. If it is true, as seems probable, thatthese three little eyes, or ocelli, are anheirloom from Vespas distant but veryimportant ancestor the worm, then
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