86 



INSECT LIFE. 



with no transverse veins. The hind wings are smaller 

 than the fore wings. TJie mouth-parts are formed for 

 biting and sucking. The abdomen in the female is 

 iisually furnished ivith a sting, piercer, or saw. TJie 

 metamorphosis is complete. 



The bees, wasps, and ants are among the better- 

 known insects, and will serve to give an idea of the 



characteristic appearance of 

 the members of this order. 

 They are chiefly insects of 

 small or moderate size, and 

 many of them abound wher- 

 ever flowers bloom. From the 

 FIG. so. An ichneumon-fly, earliest times they have been 



favorites with students of the 



habits of animals, for among them we find the most 

 wonderful developments of instinctive powers. Many 

 volumes have been written regarding their ways, 

 and much remains to be discovered, even concerning 

 our most common species. 



The name of the order is from two Greek words : 

 hymen, membrane, andflteron, a wing. It refers to the 

 fact that the wings are of a delicate membranous tex- 



FIG. 81. An ensign-fly. 



FIG. 82. A digger-wasp. 



ture ; but this characteristic is not distinctive, for it 

 is possessed by the wings of many other insects. 

 Figs. 80, 81, and 82 represent members of this order. 



