THE MUTILLA. 215 



apart, but it provisions them all in the same manner, and deposits 

 a single ^^^ in each ; then its work is done, and it soon dies. 

 Thus this mother has taken infinite pains, has shown a wonderful 

 foresight, and has laboured without rest for the sake of a progeny 

 which it never can see, and which has habits totally unlike its own. 

 This is the result of instinct, whatever that may be, and it is 

 evidently not the result of reason. Some interesting details bearing 

 upon this subject will be noticed further on, when Bembex vidua 

 is described. 



There are some species in all the families of nest-making 

 insects which have the usual organisation and the same method of 

 development, but which have no structures with which they can 

 labour, and which have no maternal instincts for the benefit of 

 the larvae. We have noticed that some ants make slaves of the 

 individuals of other species who can render proper assistance to 

 the young, and do such work of which they themselves are 

 incapable ; and amongst the fossorial Hyvicncptcra some may be 

 found which cannot chase prey and enclose it in cells, but they 

 manage to introduce their eggs into the galleries and nests which 

 have been well furnished with victims by hunting Hymenoptera. 

 Thus the females which cannot hunt manage that their larvae 

 live like comrades at the expense of those of the fierce and in- 

 dustrious kinds. They introduce their eggs, and the larvae are soon 

 hatched, and crawl out of the egg sooner than those to whom 

 the nest really belongs ; the consequence is, these parasites — the 

 offspring of lazy parents — eat up a large portion of the provisions 

 laid up in store, to the great detriment of the others. The female 

 Hynicnoptera which act in this very human manner have neither 

 mandibles proper to excavate earth, nor legs so spined that they 

 can act as rakes ; so not having a mechanical power, they use 

 their wits at the expense of the goods of those insects which 

 are endowed with the means of labouring. 



The MiitillidcB were formerly taken for ants, because the 

 females, having no wings, can only run over the ground, and 

 thus resemble the neuter or worker ants. They are solitary 

 insects, and consist only of males and females, the former having 

 wings. They are found in all parts of the globe, and principally 

 in the tropics. The genus Mutilla is found in Europe and in 



