SOME REPRESEXTATIVE INSECTS 



391 



honey-bee colon}- may have arisen in the course of evolution. In 

 the sohtary species each female constructs her own separate nest 

 in which an egg is laid and which is stored with food. In other 

 eases food is brought to the larva during this period of the devel- 



FiG. 204. — The honey-bee. Apis mellifica. 



Above, a, worker or sexually immature female; 6, queen or sexually mature female; 

 c, drone or male. Below, left, egg (a), larval stages {b and c), pupa (d); middle, comb 

 showing some larger queen cells; right, side view of late larval stage within cell. (From 

 various publications of U. S. Dept. Agr.) 



opment. Some of these solitary species, however, show a ten- 

 dency toward gregariousness that suggests the beginnings of social 

 life. They build many nests close together, although each is the 

 property of a single individual. In others the nests are separate, 

 but the " neighbors " cooperate in the construction of a com- 

 mon entrance. The bumble-bees represent a more specialized 



