VI. 

 HYMENOPTEEA. 



THE Order Hymenoptera comprises those insects which have 

 four naked membranous wings, lying in repose horizontally upon 

 the body, and intersected by a network of nerves. The name is 

 derived from two Greek words vpriv, a membrane, and TTTepov, 

 a wing. The mouth is composed of two horny mandibles, jaws, 

 and lips adapted for suction. 



It is amongst the Hymenoptera that we meet with the most 

 industrious insects, some of which seem to possess real intelligence. 

 These little animals offer the most admirable examples of socia- 

 bility. Born architects, they construct dwellings marvellously 

 contrived, which serve them, at the same time, as nurseries in 

 which to rear their progeny, and storehouses in which to lay by 

 their provisions. Nothing can equal the solicitude with which 

 they watch over their young larvae, still incapable of motion. 

 They form republics, governed by immutable laws, and make 

 war against their enemies in order of battle. They have predilec- 

 tions or antipathies for those who court their society, on account 

 of the material advantages they derive from them. 



The Bees, the Humble Bees, the Wasps, and the Ants, are the 

 best known types of this order of insects. Among the greater 

 number of the Hymenoptera, the females are armed with a sting 

 or lancet, a wound from which causes great pain. All these 

 insects undergo complete metamorphoses. In the larva state 

 they are incapable of motion and of obtaining food ; but nature 

 has provided in different ways for their preservation. They are often 

 lodged and fed by the workers of the tribe, unfruitful females, 

 which, with a self-denial very rare in nature, seem to have no other 



