26 OUTLINES OF ENTOMOLOGY. 



as to the species designated. Whenever, therefore, exactness is re- 

 quired, the scientific name should accompany the popular one, and ia 

 these cases it is enclosed in parenthesis. For example : The Golden. 

 Tortoise beetle^ fCassida aurichalcea, Fabr). 



CHAPTER VIII. 

 Order I. HYMEXOPTERA.. 



[Fi^. 9.] 



8ald-faced Hornet (Vespa maculata), 

 after Biley. 



This Order includes the Bees, Wasps, Ants, Ichneumon tiles and 

 other four- winged parasites. Gall flies. Saw flies, and a few Wood borers. 

 These are not by any means the largest or most conspicuous of insects, 

 but they occupy the highest rank on account of their perfection of form 

 and the remarkable intelligence which many of them display. The three 

 leading groups have from time immemorial attracted the attention of 

 man by their interesting social relations, their industry, their mechani- 

 cal skill, and their tender care for their young — in these respects dis- 

 playing a wonderful analogy to the traits and enterprises of the human 

 race. 



Another reason for giving this Order precedence is that among 

 its members we find the most complete metamorphosis — the larv8& 

 being far more helpless and dependent on the personal care or the 

 most painstaking prevision of the mature insects than is the case of 

 the young of other Orders. In this, also, there is an interesting cor- 

 respondence to man, who in infancy is utterly incapable of taking care 

 of himself, far more so than any of the lower animals. 



The frame of hymenopterous insects is, in most of the species, 

 very hard and compact, especially on the thorax. The surface is, in 

 some, smooth and polished, and often brilliantly colored ; in others it is 

 densely clothed with short hairs, giving it a resemblance to plush or 

 velvet. 



The head is comparatively large, and is attached, vertically, to 

 the thorax by a short, slender neck, upon which it can be freely turned 

 in any direction. The mouth is provided with apparatus for both bit- 



