OF WASHINGTON. 323 



ANNUAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. 



THE PHYLOGENY OF THE HYMENOPTERA. 

 By WILLIAM H. ASHMEAD. 



You are all probably aware that the order Hymenoptera 

 includes those insects known to us under the popular names of 

 bees, wasps, hornets, ants, saw-flies, gall-flies, Ichneumons, and 

 Chalcid-flies, and to-night I shall attempt to give you some idea 

 of their origin, history, and development, their affinities with 

 other orders, and their classification into groups, families, and 

 tribes. I shall also attempt to show how the phytophagous 

 species, under the great law of evolution, gave place to parasitic 

 and predaceous species ; and while I should like to mention some 

 of the interesting and unsolved problems in their life-history, I 

 shall be compelled, for want of time, to confine myself to the 

 subject of my address and merely call your attention to the 

 economic importance of the order. 



A study of insects demonstrates that the same general laws of 

 development that govern the higher animal life govern insect life 

 and that there is ever an upward tendency to a higher or more 

 specialized type ; since man is the highest type of animal life, so 

 a bee or an ant is the highest type of insect life. 



Both in their way are remarkable productions of nature. 



The surprising instincts and wonderful intelligence displayed 

 by many Hymenoptera, particularly among the social species, in 

 the construction of their habitations, in the care of their young 

 and in gathering their food have been noticed and commented 

 upon by many observers. 



The late Prof. John O. Westwood as early as 1840 says : "If 

 interesting habits and economy, great development of instinctive 

 powers and social qualities be considered as indicating superiority 

 in their possessors, the insects composing the order Hymenoptera 

 have certainly far greater claims to be placed in the foremost 

 ranks of insect tribes than any of their brethren." 



Sir John Lubbock, known to us all for his researches in many 

 departments of science, also says : " If we judge animals by their 

 intelligence as evinced in their actions, it is not the gorilla and 



