ZOOLOGY. 



of old trees. Some ants, as Formica rufescens, 

 have the very peculiar instinct of capturing the 

 pupae of other ants and making slaves of them. 

 Ants have another very strange habit namely, 

 that of milking the aphides or plant-lice. These 

 aphides excrete a saccharine substance, or honey- 

 dew, of which the ants are extremely fond. To 

 obtain this, the ant pats the abdomen of the 

 aphis with its antennas, and when the drop has 

 been obtained, it passes on to another aphis. 



Vespida (Wasps) generally form large com- 

 munities, composed of males, females, and neuters. 

 A colony is commenced in spring by young 

 females which have lain dormant during the 

 winter, when they set about building a nest, in 

 which they lay eggs, and attend to the larvae. 

 The first brood consists of workers, upon whom 

 ultimately depends the work of the community. 

 The nest is made of a paper-like pulp, made by 

 masticating and moistening the wood or bark of 

 a tree. 



Of the ApidcE, or Bees, some are solitary, while 

 others live in detached communities, under the 

 apparent rule of an individual. Amongst Social 

 Bees, such as the Humble and Hive Bees, only 

 one in each hive is a true female, distinguished by 

 her size, and called the queen. About six hundred 

 are males, usually called drones, and the remainder, 

 about fifteen thousand, are neuters, destined for 

 labour. The queen, in the larval state, is fur- 

 nished with a cell of royal dimensions, and is 

 supplied with the most nutritious and delicate 

 kind of food. In due time, she comes forth in 

 all the dignity of majestic size and full colouring. 

 The neuters are placed in six-sided cells, so pro- 

 portioned as to limit their growth, and prevent 

 their full development. They are fed on simple 

 fare. The males exist only between April and 

 August, when they are destroyed by the workers. 

 The cells are six-sided, and are so constructed 

 as to yield at the same time the least expenditure 

 of material with the greatest strength ; the instinct 

 of an insect thus coming to the very same result 

 as the highest human intelligence. In some cells, 

 honey is stored up, and in others the eggs are 

 laid. The eggs from which perfect females or 

 queens are to be produced are laid in cells much 

 larger than the rest, and of different forms. The 

 drones are killed at the end of summer, but the 

 queen and the workers remain ; and when the 

 hive is over-peopled, colonies are sent forth with 

 young queens in search of another habitation. 



The Solitary Bees present great variety of habit, 

 some, such as the Carpenter Bees (Xylocopd], 

 making their nests in old wood ; the Mason Bees 

 (Osmia) construct their nests by gluing together 

 grains of sand ; while the Cuckoo Bees (Nomadce) 

 build no nest at all, but deposit their eggs in the 

 nest of other species. 



ORDER n. Strepsiptera are parasitic in the 

 interior of Bees and Wasps. The females have no 

 wings, but the males have a pair the posterior 

 of large membranous wings, folded longitudinally. 

 Neither the jaws nor the anterior pair of wings 

 are developed. 



ORDER 12. The Coleoptera (koleo, a sheath, 

 and pteron, a wing), or Beetles, have the anterior 

 pair of wings horny or chitinous, and forming a 

 protective covering (elytra) for the posterior pair. 

 The mouth is masticatory, and possesses both 

 mandibles and maxillae. The metamorphosis is 



complete, and the pupa is inactive. They are the 

 most numerous and best known of all the orders 

 of insects. 



The primary division of Beetles is founded 

 upon the number of joints in the divisions of their 

 feet or tarsi. 



Section Trimera, or beetles which have only 

 three joints in their tarsi. The Two-spotted Lady- 

 bird (Coccinella di-punctata), so called from having 

 two spots on its elytra, is an example. Its larvae 

 feed upon aphides, so that these insects ought to 

 be encouraged, and they are of great use to land- 

 owners by devouring the aphides which swarm on 

 hops. 



Section Tetramera contains such beetles as 

 have four joints in each foot. They all feed upon 

 vegetable substances. It includes the Weevils 

 (Curculionidce), which have the anterior part of 

 the head extended into a kind of muzzle. They 

 are dangerous enemies to our vegetable stores. 

 The Xylophagi, or Wood-eaters, are small in size, 

 but exceedingly numerous, and do almost in- 

 credible mischief to mankind. The Longicornes, 

 distinguished by the length of their antennae, in 

 their larval state bore deep tunnels into trees. 



Section Heteromera, which have five articula- 

 tions in the first four tarsi, and only four in the 

 hindmost pair. They are terrestrial in their habits, 

 live chiefly in dark places, and feed upon vege- 

 table substances. The Churchyard Beetle (Blaps 

 mortisagd), found in dark and dirty places about 

 houses, is a well-known example. The larva of 

 Tenebrio molitor is known as the Meal-worm. 

 The Trachelidce have the head supported on a 

 pedicle or neck. Example Lytta vesicatoria 

 (Blister-fly) is very common in Spain, and hence 

 the common name, Spanish-fly. The beetles are 

 shaken from the trees, and collected in sheets 

 spread upon the ground, and are killed by ex- 

 posure to the fumes of vinegar. 



Section Pentamera. The majority of insects in 

 this section have five joints in the tarsi. It 

 includes several families for example : 



The vast family of the Lamellicornes have the 

 antennae club-shaped, composed of thin plates 

 arranged like the leaves of a book, which they 

 can open or shut at pleasure. They are entirely 

 vegetable feeders, and vary much in form, colour, 

 and size. The Cetonia aurata (Rose-beetle) may 

 be taken as the type. It includes also the sacred 

 Egyptian Beetle (Ateuchus safer), which was con- 

 secrated to the sun, and therefore regarded as 

 an emblem of fertility ; the Stag-beetle (Lucanus 

 cervus) ; and the Cockchafer (Melolantha vul- 

 garis}. The Dynastes Hercules, a native of Brazil, 



Dynastes Hercules. 



sometimes attains a length of five inches. It has 

 a horn projecting from the head, which is opposed 

 by a corresponding protuberance from the thorax. 



