THE HYMENOPTERA. 1 63 



a wonderful contrast there is between the gaudy butterfly or the 

 magnificent Biiprcstis beetle, and the bee ! In the one case there 

 is an existence of decorated idleness, and in the other a modest 

 exterior enhances the charms of a laborious life, in which all the 

 resources of the highest instinct are combined to a common end. 

 Contrasts of this kind arc not uncommon in Nature, and are not 

 restricted to families, but are to be noticed in species, and even 

 amongst individuals. There is a great amount of uniformity in 

 the shapes, the physiology, and in the phases of the development 

 of the Lcpidoptcra, and also in their methods of life and instincts. 

 There are no grand differences, although there is an infinitude 

 of peculiarities. 



But the distinctions between the principal types or kinds of the 

 Hymenoptcra are most striking. These insects, when perfect, usually 

 feed upon vegetable matters, but during their larval condition some 

 live upon plants, and others remain within excrescences which they 

 produce upon the leaves, roots, and stems of trees. Many larvze 

 are absolutely carnivorous, and live within the bodies of all kinds 

 •of insects ; whilst a vast number are provided for by their 

 parents, and receive, as legacies, either a living thing to be fed 

 upon, or a delicacy composed of honey and the pollen of flowers. 

 There is every possible variety of food, and every imaginable 

 method of life. 



The hymenopterous larvae difler amongst themselves in their 

 conformation and in their development. Those of an entire 

 family are hatched sufficiently well developed to take care of 

 themselves ; they live in full daylight, and can walk, so that they 

 may be compared to caterpillars. But others pass a hidden exis- 

 tence, beyond the help of the outside world, because they must 

 live in the place where the eggs out of which they have come 

 were deposited, and, indeed, they never care to wander. There 

 are some kinds which are so ill-developed that they have no 

 means of locomotion, and cannot even take their food themseh-es, 

 so that they require mothers, or a staff of nurses gifted with 

 industry and sufficient intelligence to find a safe place and plenty 

 ■of proper nourishment for their charges. 



Many Hymawplcra — unlike almost all the other insects — 

 never abandon their eggs, and the love of their offspring has been 



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