STINGING FOUR-WINGED INSECTS 



fly hurled to the ground b\- a mason-bee which 

 had built her nest in a hole in a wall. The fl\- 

 rolled herself up into a ball, when the bee bit off 

 her wings, and then flew a\va_\-. But as soon as 

 she was gone the wingless fl>' stretched herself 

 out again, and climbed up the wall to the bee's 

 nest to deposit her eggs. 



The group of stinging insects begins with 

 the Ants, which are probably the most intelligent 

 animals now living in the world. Different species, 

 however, differ very much in their manners and 

 customs, and in the grade of ci\ilisation to which 

 they have attained. Some of the more industrious 

 among them keep other insects as cattle, and even 

 as pets; others harvest grain, while a few species 

 cultivate grain for their own use ; and others make 

 large mushroom-beds of comminuted leaves, and 

 thus do great harm to cultivated trees in many 

 parts of tropical America. When the industrious 

 ants are not too bus)', they sometimes indulge in 

 sports and pastimes. Hut there are some species 

 which live in idle communities. Such ants are only 

 energetic as marauders, and are so degraded that 



307 



Fholo by IV. P. Dan^,, F.Z.S.] [R,gtnl-j Pari 



ICHNEUMON-FLY 



One oj the IjrgtiC species of a firry extensi-ve group of para- 



sitic insects 



they cannot even feed themselves, and starve to 



death if they are deprived of the services of their 



black slaves, which have been carried off as pupae 



by the others in piratical raids, and brought up by other slaves, which do all the work in the 



nests of their captors. 



Quitting the Ants, we arrive at a rather extensive series of insects of moderate or con- 

 siderable size, and with ver)- spiny legs, called BuRROWiNG-\v.\SPS. They are brightly coloured, 

 active insects, and generally dig holes in the ground, which the)' provision with caterpillars, 

 grasshoppers, or spiders, which they paralyse with their stings, and leave in a moribund condition 

 to form the food of their progenv'. They are generally winged in both sc.xes, but in one family 

 the females are stout and very hairy, and look like large hairy ants, while the males are slender 

 winged insects, very unlike their partners. In the burrowing-wasps the front of the thorax, 

 or second division of the body, is usuall)' transverse, and often narrow; but in the TRUE W.\SPS 

 it bends back to the wings. Among these latter it is only the small group of the Social 

 Wasps which are gregarious, and among which we find workers as well as males and females. 

 The largest of the British wasps is the HoRNET ; but there are several much larger species in 

 the East Indies, some of which are black and )'ellow, like the Chinese Ma\1j.ARIX-wasp, the 



largest of all, which often measures 2 inches across the 

 wings. Others are black, with one large reddish band on 

 the abdomen. Their nests, which the)' construct of a kind 

 of paper, are formed in a hole in the ground, in a 

 hollow tree, or in a bush, or under the ea\-es of a house. 

 A nest is commenced by a single female which has survived 

 the winter, and is afterwards enlarged by the exertions of 

 her progeny. 



The last group in this order are the Bees. They 

 nia)- generall)' be easily recognised by their shaggy bodies 

 and legs. As with the Wasps, most species are solitary, 

 or live in very small communities. Some few are smooth. 



Phtltl hj W. p. Danda, F.Z.S. 



RUBY-TAILED WOOD-ANT 



FLY 



Generally of a htiUiant 

 metallic green or blue 



The largest specie 

 found in Britain 



