115 



By reason of the permanence of the type, due to the high 

 rank of these insects, the generic and specific characters are 

 founded on very slight, ditlercnces, so that these insects, and 

 particularly the two higher families, the Wasps (Vespidce) and 

 Bees (Ajn'tirf(i') are the most difficult insects to study. The 

 easiest characters for the recognition of the genera, lie in the 

 venation of the wings ; though in the fossorial families the legs 

 vary greatly. The best specific characters lie in the sculptur- 

 ing :ind style of coloration, but the spots and markings are apt 

 to vary greatly. The great differences between the sexes are 

 liable to mislead the student, and hence large collections are 

 indispensable for their proper study. Bees act as "marriage 

 priests" in the fertilization of plants, conveying pollen from 

 flower to flower, and thus insuring the formation of the fruit. 

 It is said that many plants could not be fertilized without 

 the interposition of Bees. 



Their interesting habits deserve long and patient study ; it 

 is for their observations on the insects of this suborder that the 

 names of Reaumur, the tw r o Hubers, and Latreille will be ever 

 held in special remembrance. 



Most Ilymenoptera love the sun, and they may be caught 

 while flying about flowers. The nests of bees, wasps, and ants 

 should be sought for and the entire colony captured, together 

 with the parasites. The hairy species should be pinned while in 

 the net, and the naked ones can be put in the collecting-boV 

 tle. The larger species may be pinned, like other insects, 

 through the thorax; but the minute Chalcids, etc., should be 

 gun nned, like small Coleoptera, upon cards. 



The nests of bees and of wasps and ants and the young in 

 various stages of growth should be collected, and in such num- 

 bers as to show their different stages of construction, to serve 

 as illustrations of insect architecture. 



Latreille (Apidce Leach). This and those families 

 succeeding which are provided with a true sting, were called 

 by Latreille Ilymenoptera Aculeata. The male antennae are 

 mostly thirteen-jointed, while in the female they are twelve- 

 jointed. The females (and the workers, when they exist) 

 feed the larva, 1 , which mostly live in nests or cells. 



