INSECTS 



249 



labor which is very 

 remarkable. This can 

 be seen in tracing out 

 the lives of several of 

 the communal insects. 



Solitary Wasps. — 

 Some bees and wasps 

 lead a solitary exist- 

 ence. The solitary 

 and digger wasps do 

 not live in communi- 

 ties. Each female con- 

 structs a burrow in 

 which she lays eggs 

 and rears her young. 

 The young are fed 

 upon spiders and in- 

 sects previously 

 caught and then stung 

 into insensibility. The 

 nest is closed up after 

 food is supplied and 

 the young later gnaw 



their way out. In the life history of such an insect there is no 

 communal life. 



Bumblebee. — In the life history of the big bumblebee we see 

 the beginning of the community instinct. Some of the female 

 bees (known as queens) survive the winter and lay their eggs the 

 following spring in a mass of pollen, which has been previously 

 gathered and placed in a hole in the ground. The young hatch as 

 larvae, then pupate, and finally become workers, or females. In 

 the working bee the egg-laying apparatus, or ovipositor, is modi- 

 fied to be used as a sting. The workers bring in pollen to the 

 queen, in which she lays more eggs. Several broods of workers 

 are thus hatched during a summer. In the early fall a brood of 

 males or drones, and egg-laying females or queens, are produced 

 instead of workers. 



Ants and their " cows.' 



