cells used for rearing males and queens, surrounded by multiple layers of envelope”. The nests (investigated in Archer’s experiment) were small with a mean of 57 workers, as cited in “A Test of Worker Policing Theory in an Advanced Eusocial Wasp, Vespula rufa.” However, mature colonies can have as many as 282 workers. The nests are generally found in dry banks underground but close to the surface. Subterranean nests have nest cavities just below the surface or just beneath the layer of moss. There are also nests that are positioned in the stumps of old, hollow trees, as well as nests that are hanging from the roots of trees. In a group of 19 subterranean nests the average depth of such nests was 2.9 centimeters. On rare occasions, aerial nests can be spotted in dense bushes. Aerial nests can exist "in a cavity ...or covered above." Distribution and habitat V. rufa can be found in the “Palearctic” and in the northern parts of North America. Examples of locations with V. rufa include England, Ireland, the Netherlands, Russia, Turkey, Mongolia, and China. In general, this species builds its nests below ground, often in cavities or along the underside of a roof. V. rufa nests are generally found underground near the surface of dry banks. Nests are made using mineral soil and leaf litter in a shaded environment. Old tree remains and tree roots can also be utilised to make nests. V. rufa is a common wasp species. Colony cycle The lifecycle of a V. rufa colony begins in the fall as queens leave their home colony and, after fertilization, enter over-wintering sites. In early spring the queens emerge from hibernation to look for a nesting cavity. The nest is usually constructed underground in an abandoned rodent burrow or similar cavity, more rarely in cavities above ground (hollow stumps, wall cavities, and bird boxes), under moss, in dense bushes, under eaves of houses or in attics. The queen commences the process by building the "queen nest" and raising the first workers, such that these workers can begin to forage, engage in "nest-building and brood rearing activities," rather than the queen. In the meantime, the queen can lay eggs. The queens and workers overlap in foraging for at least two days in "one colony and three days in another." The burden of feeding the larvae and enlarging the nest is on the workers. Colony expansion continue rapidly, with thousands of workers being produced in a large nest in approximately a 9-week period. Eggs, that are laid in the cells, hatch to become larvae. When the last larval stage is near its end, "the gut contents are evacuated to form the meconium at the bottom of the cell." The larva spins a cocoon, thereby entering the pupal stage. Workers and the majority of males are reared in the first cells, which are small with a diameter for approximately 4 mm. Large cells of about 6 mm in diameter are constructed later in the season and queens and a few males are reared in these cells. Because queens and males, but not workers, were observed in a few frigid regions, Birula asserts that workers are not reared in extremely cold areas and that only queens and males are reared in such environments. Once the new males and queens leave the colony, workers slowly die out and the colony ceases to exist. Founded in spring and dying out in August, nests have a short annual cycle. The nest of the Red Wasp is relatively small with a diameter which rarely exceeds 20 cm. It is made