1 66 INSECTS. 



the larvae of some Sawflies remain for a considerable 

 time before changing into pupee. 



The Sawfly is not without a place amongst the insects 

 remarkable for maternal affection. It is stated that a 

 Sawfly found in Van Diemen's Land sits on the leaf on 

 which her eggs are placed until they are hatched, after 

 which, like the Earwig, and the Plant-bug of the 

 birch-tree, described by Dr. Geer, she guards them as a 

 hen guards her young, covering them with her body and 

 protecting them from all assailants. This exhibition of 

 maternal feeling appears more remarkable in the Sawfly 

 than in the other insects mentioned, on account of the 

 far greater disparity of constitution, and almost, one 

 might say, of nature, between the mother and the young. 

 Both in the Plant-bug and the Earwig there is a great 

 resemblance in habit, mode of feeding, and external form 

 between the larva and the perfect insect, whereas in the 

 Sawfly it is difficult to imagine any sympathy existing 

 between the winged fly and the sluggish, crawling grub. 

 We should smile at the idea of a white butterfly 

 covering and tending a family of fat, green caterpillars ; 

 yet here is a phenomenon presented to us of a precisely 

 similar nature. 



The British species of the Tenthredo family number 

 about three hundred. 



Division IL THE BORERS. The Wood-borers (called 

 Sirex by Linnaeus, which name, like Tenthredo, is now 

 applied to only a single genus of the family), very nearly 

 resemble the Sawflies in general form and appearance ; a 

 variation in the form of the thorax, and the solitary 

 spur on the fore-leg being the most conspicuous external 

 difference. The tongue, as has been said (p. 156), differs 

 from that of the Sawflies in being simple or undivided, 



