#54 INSECTS. HYMEKOPTERA. 



various materials. The interior of the case is smooth and polished. Previous to 

 undergoing their metamorphosis they close up the end of their tube with a silky 

 network, to prevent their being attacked by other aquatic insects. 



P. striata, Lin. Body reddish, with some brown hairs on the head 

 and thorax ; antennae almost as long as the body ; eyes black ; 

 wings very large, with the nerves deep red ; feet long and spir 

 nous. 11 lines long. Inhabits Europe, on the margins of waters. 

 Nouv. Diet. xii. 153. 



ORDER VIII HYMENOPTERA. 



Four naked veined wings of unequal size ; mouth composed of 

 jaws, mandibles, and two lips ; lip tubular at its base, terminat- 

 by a labium, either doubled or folded in, and forming a kind 

 of sucker ; females with a compound ovipositor or sting at the 

 anus. 



All the winged individuals have three very small ocelli. The number of joints in 

 the tarsi is constantly six. The larvae of the greater number are without feet ; the 

 others have six scaly feet, with from twelve to sixteen membranous feet besides. 

 These polypodrous larvae resemble caterpillars. The Hymenoptera have all compound 

 eyes, often larger in the males, and three small ocelli on the vertex in a triangu- 

 lar form. The antennae vary not only according to the genera, but even in the sex- 

 es of the same species. They are filiform or setaceous in the greater number, and 

 composed of from three to ten joints, or at most eleven, in those which have an ovi- 

 positor ; of thirteen in the males and fourteen in the females, in those which have a 

 sting. The jaws have a narrow elongated lip, attached by long muscles to a deep 

 cavity below the head, forming a kind of tube ; and the labium is membranous, 

 trifitl, and long. The reticulation of the wings is various. These insects are all ter- 

 restrial, and undergo a complete metamorphosis. The females with an ovipositor 

 do not provide food for the larvae, but place the ova in animal or vegetable substan- 

 ces where the young may find subsistence. The larvae of those with a sting are 

 either found singly in a retreat prepared by the mother, or are fed by a third class 

 of individuals, members of the common family. In their perfect state they almost 

 all live on flowers, and are in general most abundant in southern countries. The 

 duration of their life, from their birth to their last metamorphosis, extends little be- 

 yond a year. 



SECTION I. TEREBRANTIA. 



Abdomen of many sessile, and that of the females provided with 

 a borer or ovipositor ; antennae with generally more or less 

 than twelve or thirteen joints. 



FAMILY I. SECURIFERA. 



Abdomen perfectly sessile, or intimately united at its base in all 

 its breadth to the metathorax ; larvae with six scaly feet, and 

 often membranous ones. 



TRIBE I. TENTHREDINET^. 



Maxillary palpi in almost all with six joints, and the labial with 

 four ; mandibles generally elongated and compressed ; labium 

 trifid; perforator composed of two serrated laminae, and lodged 

 in a longitudinal groove at the posterior extremity of the bel- 

 ly, rarely projecting beyond the anus. 



