422 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. 



The saw-flies, though undoubtedly belonging to the order 

 Hymenoptera, depart from the general characters thereof more 

 than any other insects in it. They are more dull and heavy 

 in all their motions ; they have not the powerful jaws of the 

 predaceous tribes, nor the long and slender lower jaws and 

 tongue of those that subsist upon honey. They live but a 

 short time, and their food appears to be pollen, the tender 

 parts of leaves, and sometimes the plant-lice and other soft- 

 bodied insects frequenting flowers. In the stiffness of their 

 upper wings, and the heaviness of their flight, they somewhat 

 resemble beetles, and, analogically, may be said to typify the 

 Coleoptera, or, in other words, they may be called the beetles 

 of the Hymenoptera. They will be found, on comparison, to 

 have some features in common with the crickets, which, with 

 the earwigs, are also the representatives of the Coleoptera. 

 Although they differ essentially from butterflies and moths, 

 the resemblance of most of their young to caterpillars, in form 

 and in habits, is very striking and remarkable. Hence the 

 saw^-flies plainly show the relation existing between the orders 

 Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera, and serve closely to connect 

 them together. 



The next piercing insects to be described belong to the 

 family of Urocerid^e, or horn-tails, so called because they 

 have a horny point at the end of the body. The Germans 

 call them wood-wasps. Their antennae are slender, and thread- 

 like, or tapering. They have a large head, convex before, and 

 flat behind where it joins the thorax. Their wings are long, 

 narrow, and strong, and overlap on the top of the back, when 

 closed. The body is very long, and nearly or quite cylindrical; 

 the thorax and the after part of the body are of equal thick- 

 ness, and are closely joined together. The horn, at the end, 

 is short, and conical or triangular, in the males; longer, and 

 sometimes spear-pointed, in the females. Moreover the latter 

 are provided with a long, cylindrical borer, hinged to the middle 

 of the belly, which is furrowed to receive it. The borer usu- 

 ally extends some distance beyond the end of the body, and 

 consists of five pieces. The two outermost are grooved within, 

 and, when shut, form a hollow tube or scabbard to the others, 



