§9.41#2Ἔστι δ’ ἡ μήτρα πλατὺ καὶ βαρύ, καὶ παχύτερον καὶ μεῖζον τοῦ σφηκός, καὶ πρὸς τὴν πτῆσιν διὰ τὸ βάρος οὐκ ἄγαν ἰσχυρόν· οὐδὲ δύνανται ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ πέτεσθαι· διὸ καὶ κάθηνται ἐν τοῖς σφηκίοις ἀεί, συμπλάττουσαι καὶ διοικοῦσαι τὰ ἔνδον.
The queen is broad and heavy, thicker and larger than the wasp, and owing to its weight not very strong for flight; nor can they fly to any great distance; wherefore they always remain in the nests, helping to construct and manage the inside.
Ἐν δὲ τοῖς πλείστοις σφηκίοις ἔνεισιν αἱ μῆτραι καλούμεναι.
And in most wasp-nests the so-called queens are present.
Ἀμφισβητεῖται δὲ πότερον ἔγκεντροί εἰσιν ἢ ἄκεντροι· ἐοίκασι δ’, ὥσπερ οἱ τῶν μελιττῶν ἡγεμόνες, ἔχειν μέν, οὐκ ἐξιέναι δὲ οὐδὲ βάλλειν.
And it is disputed whether they have stings or are stingless; but they seem, like the leaders of bees, to have them, but not to protrude them or sting.
Τῶν δὲ σφηκῶν οἱ μὲν ἄκεντροί εἰσιν ὥσπερ κηφῆνες, οἱ δ’ ἔχουσι κέντρον.
Of the wasps, some are stingless like drones, while others have a sting.
Εἰσὶ δ’ οἱ ἄκεντροι ἐλάττους καὶ ἀμενηνότεροι, καὶ οὐκ ἀμύνονται, οἱ δ’ ἔχοντες τὰ κέντρα μείζους καὶ ἄλκιμοι· καὶ καλοῦσι τούτους ἔνιοι μὲν ἄρρενας, τοὺς δ’ ἀκέντρους θηλείας.
And the stingless ones are smaller and weaker, and do not defend themselves, while those with stings are larger and aggressive; and some call these males, and the stingless ones females.
Πρὸς δὲ τὸν χειμῶνα ἀποβάλλειν δοκοῦσι πολλοὶ τῶν ἐχόντων τὰ κέντρα· αὐτόπτῃ δ’ οὔπω ἐντετυχήκαμεν.
And toward winter, many of those with stings seem to cast them off; but we have not yet met with an eyewitness.
Γίνονται δ’ οἱ σφῆκες μᾶλλον ἐν τοῖς αὐχμοῖς καὶ ἐν ταῖς χώραις ταῖς τραχείαις, γίνονται δ’ ὑπὸ γῆν, καὶ τὰ κηρία πλάττουσιν ἐκ φορυτοῦ καὶ γῆς, ἀπὸ μιᾶς ἀρχῆς ἕκαστον ὥσπερ ἀπὸ ῥίζης.
Wasps are produced more during droughts and in rough districts; they are produced under the ground, and they shape their combs out of rubbish and earth, each from a single starting point as if from a root.
Τροφῇ δὲ χρῶνται μὲν καὶ ἀπ’ ἀνθῶν τινῶν καὶ καρπῶν, τὴν δὲ πλείστην ἀπὸ ζῳοφαγίας.
And they use for food some flowers and fruits, but most of it from eating other animals.
Ὠμμένοι δ’ εἰσὶν ὀχευόμενοι ἤδη καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τινές· εἰ δ’ ἄκεντροι ἄμφω ἢ κέντρα ἔχοντες, ἢ ὁ μὲν ὁ δ’ οὔ, οὔπω ὦπται.
And some of the others have also been seen copulating; but whether both are stingless, or both have stings, or one has and the other has not, has not yet been observed.
Καὶ τῶν ἀγρίων ὀχευόμενοι ὠμμένοι, καὶ ὁ ἕτερος ἔχων κέντρον· περὶ θατέρου δ’ οὐκ ὤφθη.
Of the wild ones also, some have been seen copulating, and one of the two had a sting; but about the other, it was not seen.
Ὁ δὲ γόνος οὐ δοκεῖ ἐκ τοῦ τόκου γίνεσθαι, ἀλλ’ εὐθὺς μείζων εἶναι ἢ ὡς σφηκὸς τόκος.
And the offspring does not seem to come from an egg, but to be immediately larger than is expected of a wasp's egg.
Ἐὰν δὲ λάβῃ τις τῶν ποδῶν σφῆκα καὶ τοῖς πτεροῖς ἐᾷ βομβεῖν, προσπέτονται οἱ ἄκεντροι, οἱ δὲ τὰ κέντρα ἔχοντες οὐ προσπέτονται· ᾧ τινὲς τεκμηρίῳ χρῶνται ὡς τῶν μὲν ἀρρένων ὄντων τῶν δὲ θηλειῶν.
If anyone takes a wasp by its feet and lets it buzz with its wings, the stingless ones fly toward it, while those having stings do not fly toward it; which some use as a proof that the former are males and the latter females.
Ἁλίσκονται δ’ ἐν τοῖς σπηλαίοις τοῦ χειμῶνος καὶ ἔχοντες ἔνιοι κέντρα καὶ οὐκ ἔχοντες.
And they are caught in caves during the winter, some having stings and others not having them.
Ἐργάζονται δ’ οἱ μὲν μικρὰ καὶ ὀλίγα σφηκία, οἱ δὲ πολλὰ καὶ μεγάλα.
And some build small and few wasp-nests, while others build many and large ones.
Αἱ δὲ μῆτραι καλούμεναι ἁλίσκονται τραπείσης τῆς ὥρας, αἱ πολλαὶ περὶ τὰς πτελέας· συλλέγουσι γὰρ τὰ γλίσχρα καὶ κομμιώδη.
And the so-called queens are caught when the season changes, most of them around elm trees; for they collect sticky and gummy substances.
Γεγένηται δέ που μητρῶν πλῆθος γενομένων τῷ ἔμπροσθεν ἔτει πολλῶν σφηκῶν καὶ ἐπομβρίας.
And a great abundance of queens has sometimes occurred when many wasps and heavy rains had occurred in the previous year.
Θηρεύονται δὲ περὶ τοὺς κρημνοὺς καὶ τὰ ῥήγματα τῆς γῆς τὰ εἰς ὀρθόν, καὶ πάντες φαίνονται ἔχοντες κέντρα.
And they are hunted around cliffs and vertical fissures in the earth, and all of them appear to have stings.
Τὰ μὲν οὖν περὶ τοὺς σφῆκας τοῦτον ἔχει τὸν τρόπον,
Such, then, is the character of wasps,