THE SUBJECT IN GENERAL 3 



bite by the mouth. A fly or gnat no doubt 

 inserts its proboscis into one's flesh just as a 

 wasp does its sting ; but the actions of such 

 opposite parts of the body surely demand dis- 

 tinct names. As we have been alluding to flies 

 it may not be inappropriate to say here that all 

 the creatures we are going to consider have four 

 membranous wings except the worker ants and 

 a very few forms which are comparatively sel- 

 dom met with. By this character they may 

 at once be known from flies, which have only- 

 two membranous wings. The large brown 

 " drone flies", so often seen on the windows of 

 our rooms, especially in autumn, and which 

 most people mistake for hive bees, to which they 

 certainly bear a considerable general resemblance, 

 may be detected at once by wanting the two 

 hind wings of the bee. 



The " aculeate ", or stinging, Hymenoptera, 

 are divided into sections and families according 

 to their structure ; but the groups which stand 

 out most clearly in regard to their habits are 

 the solitary and social species, the predaceous 

 and non-predaceous and the inquilines or 

 cuckoos. 



