INSECTS 373 



species (Hemiteles melanarius) (fig. 226) lays its eggs in the 

 chrysalis of the Green-veined White. 



3. Stinging Hymenoptera are generally distinguished by the 

 presence of a sting in the female, which takes the place of the 

 ovipositor found in the forms 

 so far mentioned. Special 

 cells are usually constructed 

 in which the helpless larvae are 

 reared. As in the last sub- 

 order, the abdomen is attached 

 by a stalk, which may be ex- 

 tremely slender. Ants, Wasps, 

 and Bees are here included, 



Of Which live in SOCial Fi 226. The Green-veined White (Pieris napi], and an 



. . _ ... _ Ichneumon-Fly (Hemiteles melanarius), which lays its eggs 



tieS, the pOlltlCS OI in the chrysalis of the same, i, 2, 3, 4, Adult female, eggs, 



*11 U J 1 ' "U * caterpillar, and chrysalis of the butterfly; 5, adult female of the 



Will be dealt With in ichneumon-fly, of which natural size is shown by 6. 



another part of this book, 



and which in itself would require an entire volume to do it 



justice. 



More than a thousand species of Ants have been described, 

 of which over thirty are British. Among these are the large red 

 Wood Ant (Formica rufa), the large "ant-hills" of which may 

 be seen in fir-woods, the Slave Ant (Formica fusca), the Slave- 

 making Ant (Polyergus rufescens), the Black Ant (Lasius niger\ 

 the Yellow Ant (Lasius flavus), and the Solitary Ant (Mutilla 

 Europcea). 



Sand-Wasps dig tunnels in the ground, at the end of which 

 their eggs are laid. Many of them make a curious provision for 

 their larvae in the shape of insects, caterpillars, grubs, or it may 

 be spiders, which they have stung in the nerve-cord so as to 

 render them powerless without actually killing them. Among 

 British forms may be mentioned the Path-Wasp (Pompilius 

 exaltatus), which stores up spiders; the Common Sand- Wasp 

 (Ammophila sabulosa), which buries caterpillars; and the Fly- 

 storing Sand- Wasp (Mellinus arvensis), which does the same to 

 flies. 



Wasps are either solitary or social, the most familiar example 

 of the latter kind being the Common Wasp (Vespa vulgaris], 

 which, as is well known, constructs nests in banks and other 

 places. The combs which these contain are constructed of a kind 



