HYMENOPTERA. 



in their cocoons, and it is probable that birds also prey 

 upon them when on the trees, both in the slug and the 

 winded states. Professor Peck has described a minute ich- 



O 



neumon-fly, stated by Mr. Westwood to be a species of 

 Encyrtus, that stings the eggs of the slug-fly, and deposits 

 in each one a single egg of her own. From this, in due 

 time, a little maggot is hatched, which lives in the shell of 

 the slug-fly's egg, devours the contents, and afterwards is 

 changed to a chrysalis, and then to a fly like its parent. 

 Professor Peck found that great numbers of the eggs of 

 the slug-fly, especially of the second hatch, were rendered 

 abortive by this atom of existence. 



Ashes or quicklime, sifted on the trees by means of a 

 sieve fastened to the end of a pole, was recommended, by 

 the late Hon. John Lowell, of Roxbury, for the destruc- 

 tion of the slugs ; and it is found to answer the purpose. 

 It is probable that Mr. Haggerston's almost universal rem- 

 edy may prove to be still more effectual. 



The saw-flies, though undoubtedly belonging to the order 

 Hymenoptera, depart from the general characters thereof 

 more than any other insects in it. They are more dull 

 and heavy in all their motions ; they have not the power- 

 ful jaws of the predaceous tribes, nor the long and slender 

 lower jaws and tongue of those that subsist upon honey. 

 They live but a short time, and their food appears to be 

 pollen, the tender parts of leaves, and sometimes the plant- 

 lice and other soft-bodied insects frequenting flowers. In 

 the stiffness of their upper wings, and the heaviness of 

 their flight, they somewhat resemble beetles, and, analogi- 

 cally, may be said to typify the Coleoptera, or, in other 

 words, they may be called the beetles of the Hymenop- 

 tera. They will be found, on comparison, to have some 

 features in common with the crickets, which, with the ear- 

 wigs, are also the representatives of the Coleoptera. Al- 

 though they differ essentially from butterflies and moths, 

 the resemblance of most of their young to caterpillars, in 



