IJVTRODUCTIOJ^ 



THE wasps, bees, and ants, as well as 

 the gall-flies, saw-flies, and a few 

 other insects, are branches of the same 

 family tree, being doubtless all descended 

 from some common ancestral 

 stock that flourished in long- 

 ago geological ages. 



They are classed by man in 

 what he calls the Order Hymen- 

 optera, or Order of Membrane- ^/ , 

 winged Insects, — a very mis- /nrV\ 

 leading name, as other insects J " \ 

 are quite as membrane-winged as these. 



The Hymenoptera resemble the general 

 family of insects in possessing a distinct 

 head, thorax, and abdomen, each of these 

 parts having functions of its own. 



They differ from, other insects in the 

 manner in which abdomen and thorax are 

 united; also in the details of the mouth 

 parts, in the wings, and in other parts of 

 the body. 



