THE STINGING INSECTS 



(II Hiiinioptrni) 



Tliis order is another one in wliicii it lakes an entomologist to see tlie 

 iliararleristie lilcenesses in the \Mrious species of inseets coniposing it. 'J^iiey 

 all lia\e menibranous wings, and :dl the females have either a saw, an 

 o\i|)ositor or a sting at the tip of tin' alidomm. One may say, indeed, that 

 pra<'lically all the stinging insects arc in this order. 



I?ees, wasps, ants, gall Hies, saw flies, and ichnenmou flies are IIyinenoi)ter:i, 

 the ants coming into this memhranons winged order because the males an<l 

 females are winged for the marriage flight, and lose them only after this is 

 o\cr. 



This is considered the highest order of insects because it contains mem- 

 bers with the most mar\elously de\cloped instincts of any creatures in 

 the world, insects whose habits, skill and industry excite our admiration and 

 Wonder. Whether they live in colonies \\-\\.\i highly developed social states, 

 or \\hether they live the li\es of solitar.\- hci'mits, their industry and sacri- 

 fice to keep alive anil ])erpetuate their kiml, are things that make us wonder 

 whether, after all. we lia\c the right to call ourseUes the most altrnivtic of 

 li\ing creatures. 



It is around these Hynieno|)tera that centers the great (juestion of what 

 instinct is, anil how it ditt'ers from intelligence. We cannot help but feel that 

 it is memory of some kind, not necessarily like the memory of our own brains, 

 but a. race memory, transmitted in the almost microscopic egg laid by the 

 mother liefore she dies. 



'I'he instinct of the l>ee, or was]), or ant is (piite a dilferent kind of thing 



fidm reason. Since these creatures have sf 1 still in their development, or 



at least ha\e changed but little since tertiary times, it is quite possible that 

 their i)resent state represents the highest type of evolution along the lines 

 of instinct. The power to rea.son, to meet a new emergeney, are things which 

 tame much later in the development of the world, and man, the creature hav- 

 ing them in the highest degree, seems tlestined to control all other creatures 

 in the entl. 



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