35 



the case of the mason bee, a very long, slender pedicel con- 

 nects the two. Good examples of this order are the Jack 

 Sjoaniards, wild bees, cow bees, mason bees, and the honey 

 bee, as well as the great numb or of ants and parasites. The 

 name of the order is derived from the Greek words hymen 

 membrane, and pteron, a wing. 



The larvae of the Hymenoptera are in most cases leg- 

 less grubs with biting mouth parts. In the case of the 

 adults the mouth parts are adapted for biting and sucking, 

 both these adaptations sometimes being found in the same 

 individual, as in the case of the honey bee and other long- 

 tongued bees. 



Key to the Orders of Insects Mentioned in this 



Paper. 



Directions for Using the Key. 



Certain readers of this book will not be accustomed 

 to using such a key as that which follows. For them, the 

 following explanation of its working is given. 



If you have collected an insect and wish to know to which 

 order it belongs, compare the insect with headings, successive- 

 ly as indicated, beginning with the first two. You will find 

 every time two sets of characters, with the same headings, 

 to choose between, and the next reference is indicated by the 

 letters on the right [as, see (b) ] until the correct order is indi- 

 cated, where its name and number will be found (as, Order 

 IV, Odonata). 



To take an example : suppose you have a dragon fly. 

 Compare the first two characters ; you may not know the 

 young form, but as the references are to A and B, you try 

 the first of these. Examination of the specimen shows that 

 it has biting mouth parts. Refer to (a) and compare the 

 wings, and you find the next reference is (c). Here the 

 choice is between large insects living where they are con- 

 spicuous, and small and inconspicuous insects. You readily 

 find the reference to come out at Order IV, Odonata. 



It must be remembered that there are many exceptions 

 to the general rules, and you may find insects that do not 

 appear to be accounted for anywhere in the key. For hi- 

 st ance, there are beetles in which the front wings are entirely 



