34 SOME SOI III tNDIAN INSECTS, ETC. [CHAP. III. 



amongst the Rhynchota, in which group the females of several 

 species of Pcntatomidae, Reduviidae and even of the Membracidae 

 have been noted to watch overtheir eggs and young. Amongst 

 the Orthoptera the Mole-crickets (Gryllotalpa) are known to exercise 

 maternal solicitude, taking particular care of their eggs anil acting 

 as unceasing sentinels around the nest. No special care of the 

 ■ i young seems to he displayed by the Butterflies and Moths 

 (Lepidoptera) or the Flies (Diptera), although in the latter group we 

 meet with cases in which the eggs are hate lied within the body of 

 the parent and the larva- nourished there until fully grown; but 

 amongst a few Hymenoptera and Social Insects generally great 

 care of the young is often taken. 



Maternal solicitude in Cantao ocellatus, a Pentatomid Bug whose 

 Je broods over her eggs, which are generally laid "n a leaf. It is inter- 

 esting to note that, in batche md under natural conditions, the 

 ' t i rior eggs are almost always parasitized whilst those protected by the body 



• if the mother escape parasitic attack. (I ti tginal.) 



A Tasmanian Sawfly * has been recorded as watching over the 

 spot where she has laid her eggs, which are deposited in an incision 

 between the two surfaces ot .1 leal ol luicalyptits. until the exclusion 

 of the young, " upon which, when hatched, she sits with outstretch- 

 ed legs, preserving them from the heat of the sun and protecting 

 them from the attacks of enemies, with admirable perseverance 

 . . . . until death terminates her mvn existence." Amongst 

 social insects (Bees, Wasps, Ants, Termites, etc.), the young are 

 usually i^d by the adults, at first by the female parent and later 

 on, when the colony attains large dimensions, by members of a 

 "worker" caste. But these cases, except at the very commence- 

 ment of the foundation of a new colony, scarcely answer to the 

 term of maternal solicitude. 



• Perga lewisii Westwd.; Sec Trans. Eut. Sac., I. p. 234 and Arcana Entomologica, 



Vol, 1, p. 2 . 



