AFFECTION OF INSECTS FOR THEIR YOUNG. 363 



different and peculiar construction. The constitution 

 of these societies is probably as various as the exterior 

 forms of their nests, and their habits possibly curious 

 in the highest degree ; yet our knowledge is almost 

 confined to the economy of the hive-bee and of some 

 species of humble-bees. The same may be said of 

 wasps, ants, and termites, of which, though there is a 

 vast variety of different kinds, we are acquainted with 

 the history of but a very few. You will not therefore 

 expect more than a sketch of the most interesting traits 

 of affection for their young, manifested by the common 

 species of each genus. 



One circumstance must be premised with regard to 

 the education of the young of most of those insects 

 which live in society, truly extraordinary, and without 

 parallel in any other department of nature : namely, 

 that this office, except under particular circumstances, 

 is not undertaken by the female which has given birth 

 to them, but by the workers, or neuters as they are 

 sometimes called, which, though bound to the offspring 

 of the common mother of tlie society by no other than 

 fraternal ties, exhibit towards them all the marks of 

 the most ardent parental affection, building habitations 

 for their use, feeding them and tending them with in- 

 cessant solicitude, and willingly sacrificing their lives 

 in defence of the precious charge. Thus sterility itself 

 is made an instrument of the preservation and multi- 

 plication of species ; and females too fruitful to educate 

 all their young, are indulged by Providence with a 

 privilege without which nine tenths of their progeny 

 must perish. 



The most determined despiser of insects and their 



