394 



SOME REPRESENTATIVE INSECTS 



colonies, particularly in some of the tropical species, may assume 

 huge dimensions, both in the size of the domicile and in the number 

 of individuals, but the essential features of the social organization 

 are illustrated by many of our native forms. In a typical example, 

 the males, which are winged throughout their brief existence, par- 

 ticipate in the mating flight with the females and then die. These 

 females then pull off their wings and establish nests of their own 



Fig. 207. — The little black ant, Monomorium minimum. 



a, male; 6, pupa; c, wingless female; d, winged female; e, worker or sexually immature 

 female; /, larva; o, eggs; group of workers in line of march below. (From Farmers' 

 Bulletin No. 740, U. S. Dept. Agr.) 



by laying eggs and tending the young until workers that can carry 

 on these labors develop. When the mating season approaches, 

 the winged males and females, the latter being the queens, are pro- 

 duced and leave the nests in the swarms that are seen at certain 

 seasons of the year. 



The ants, bees, and wasps are therefore of particular interest 

 because of the development of their social life and their seeming 

 intelligence. From the standpoint of social organization, the 



