342 INSECTS. HYMENOPTERA. 



ovoid-conical) ; SPARAZION, (antennae of twelve joints in both sexes, cla- 

 vate, or thicker at the end in the females ; abdomen depressed.) 



b. Maxillary palpi not projecting. 



Antennas clavate, or thickest toward the extremity in the females ; abdomen flattened. 



Gen. TELEAS, (antenna of twelve joints) ; SCELIO, (antennas of ten joints.) 

 B. No radial cell. 



Antennae of ten joints in both sexes, the first and third much elongated ; maxillary 

 palpi not projecting ; abdomen depressed, spatulous. 

 Gen. PLATYGASTER. 



Gen. BETHYLLUS, Lat. Omalus, Jur. Ceraphron, Panz. 

 Ovipositor pointed, in the form of a retractile sting ; first seg- 

 ment of the thorax large ; antennae filiform, of thirteen joints 

 in both sexes, the second and third almost of the same length ; 

 mandibles bidentate at the point. 



The insects of this genus are very small, agile, and generally of a black colour. 

 They are found on the ground, on sand, or in the fissures of the bark of trees. Some 

 species have very short wings, and others are apterous. 



B. hemipterusj Fab. Black, glabrous ; wings very short. Inhabits 

 Europe,, in the neighbourhood of Paris, &c Nouv. Diet. iii. 408. 



B. cenopterus, Lat. Black, with the antennae, legs., and tarsi brown. 

 Found with the preceding. Nouv. Diet. iii. 408. 



SECTION II. ACULEATA. 



Abdomen always pediculated, and inclosing in the females and 

 neuters a sharp sting of three pieces, furnished with glands 

 filled with an acid fluid ; antennae of the male with thirteen 

 joints, and that of the female with twelve. 



The wings in this section are always veined, and marked with areolae ; the palpi 

 generally filiform, often long, the maxillary with six joints, and the labial with lour. 

 The mandibles are smaller in the males than in the other individuals ; and the ab- 

 domen, united to the thorax by a pedicle or filament, is composed of seven segments 

 in the males and six in the females. The larvae are destitute of feet, and are fur- 

 nished with food by the females or neuters. 



FAMILY III. HETEROGYNA. 



Females and neuters in those which live in society destitute of 

 wings ; antennae geniculate ; labium small, rounded, and 

 vaulted. 



The insects of this family generally burrow in the ground, and live for the greater 

 part in numerous societies. 



- TRIBE I. FORMICARIES, Lat 



The insects of this tribe live in societies composed of three sorts of individuals, the 

 males and females winged, and the neuters apterous. As indicated by the name, the 

 animals of the group include the primitive genus Formica, or the ants. The neuters 

 or workers are exclusively employed in constructing or preparing the habitation of the 

 society, feeding, watching, and defending the young, seizing and retaining the fe- 

 males after impregnation, and in preserving with care their ova for the continuance 

 of the species. The males and females are but found temporarily under their last 

 form in the ant-hills, which they leave as soon as they have acquired wings. The 

 males are much smaller than the females, and after the purpose of nature is insured, 

 in the course of their flights in the air, the males are said to perish and return no more 



