ENTOMOLOGY. 239 



Bees. 



A swarm of bees generally consists of one female, 

 from 1000 to 1500 males, and of nearly 20,000 neu- 

 ters, which are undeveloped females. 



The Queen Bee. 



We can by crossing vary the forms of cattle, but 

 we have no means of altering the nature of an animal 

 once born, a power undeniably possessed by bees* 

 When the queen bee is lost, they choose a grub from 

 among the working bees (which are all neutrals), 

 they convert three cells into one, where they place the 

 grub, and feed it with a peculiar food, tending it with 

 extreme care. When transformed from the grub to 

 the fly, it becomes not a working but a queen bee. 



^ 



Life of Insects. 



Among the insects, the male in some cases survives 

 the process of generation ; in others, the female only 

 survives; while in many, death ensues on the egg 

 being prepared and excluded. 



The duration of life in the pedate annulosa, in their 

 mature state, is limited in some to a few days, while 

 in others it extends to many years. 



Some of the zoophytes, as the corallina and spongia, 

 exhibit no signs of sensibility, and but; indistinct 

 traces of irritability. The polypi of the sponges are 

 unknown ; the fibres appear to consist of a substance 

 like coagulated albumen. 



The Sphinx Atropos. 



The caterpillars of the sphinx atropos, or death's 

 head moth, are generally found in potatoe fields, 

 feeding on the leaves. Some of these are from three 

 to five inches long. 



