44 



SOME SOUTH INDIAN IXSECTS, ETC. [CHAP. IV. 



their ordinary song. The caterpillar of the Death's-head Moth 

 makes a clicking sound, as do some other caterpillars, while the 

 moth itself squeaks shrilly, at the same time depressing its wings 

 .iml exposing thej ellow-barred abdomen. The female of Xylotnipes, 

 a large Dynastine beetle, when caught, emits a sudden, unexpected, 

 loud hiss very disconcerting to its captor. The angry chidings of 

 bees when their nest is approached too closely warn the intruder in 



tones very differ- 

 ent from their 

 P^^g ^\_ ordinary busy 



hum, and at least 

 one species of 

 Termite (Termes 

 con vulsionarius) 

 makes a con- 

 certed rhythmic 

 pattering when its 



Fig. 23.— Section of Head of a Reduviid Bug iHat-p- nest is opened. 

 actor sp.) showing Poison-gland. (After Berlese.) 



Some of the larger insects are able to defend themselves by the 

 use of their mouth-parts against the aggressor or by means of the 

 sharp spines with which their fore or hind legs are armed, and some 

 of the predaceous bugs, especially the larger water-bugs and 

 Reduviids, are able to inflict a painful poisoned bite by means of 

 the rostrum. It is, however, only in the Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, 

 Wasps, etc.) that a true sting is found in the posterior extremity of 

 the abdomen of the perfect insect. In some of these insects the 

 sting is used as an offensive weapon in the capture of prey, either as 



food for the insect 



-•1 PU: 



•Stin 1 4 H i )riginal.) 



itself or for its pro- 

 genj . but as a rule 

 the sting is only 

 used as a means of 

 defence. It may 

 be noted that the 

 sting, when pre- 

 sent, is confined 

 to individuals of 

 the female sex, 

 the males even of 

 wasps and bees 

 being destitute of 

 a ■-ting. 



