CHAPTER III. 



ACULEATA.— MUTILLAS AND SCO LI AS. 



Di the preceding insects the ovipositor is so formed as to serve 

 only its primary purpose; namely, the deposition of the eggs. In 

 those creatures, however, which will now be described, the ovi- 

 positor is used as a weapon, and is connected with a poison- 

 gland by means of which a venomous fluid is injected into any 

 wound which is made by the sting, as this modified ovipositor 

 is called. In the social Hymenoptera, such as certain ants, bees, 

 wasps, &c, there is always a great proportion of undeveloped 

 females, called neuters, or workers. These insects do not lay eggs, 

 but they notwithstanding possess the sting, which is employed 

 solely as a weapon of offence. This group of insects is techni- 

 cally called Aculeata, from a Latin word signifying " a sting." 



The first group. of Aculeata is called Mutillidse, and the 

 insects which compose it are popularly known by the name of 

 Solitary Ants. As the latter name implies, they do not live 

 in communities as do most of the true ants, and therefore no 

 neuters or workers are recpaired. There is, indeed, one genus, 

 Dorylus, in which males and neuters have been discovered, but 

 no females. Probably because of the existence of the neuter insect, 

 several practical entomologists are disposed to consider that 

 Dorylus ought by rights to be placed among the true ants, and 

 not among the Mutillas. A species of Dorylus will be described 

 presently. The females are wingless, and are armed with stints. 

 No insect seems to be so venomous in proportion to its size as 

 the female Mutilla ; and in the case of one of our own species, 

 Mutilla Europoea, the sting is scarcely less to be dreaded than 

 that of the hornet itself. 



One foreign species, Mutilla coccinea, of North America, is 



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