82 INTERNAL ORGANS. 



equal angled triangles, as has been minutely described 

 by Marcel de Serres. 



I have proved by experiment that M. Latreille was 

 mistaken in supposing a small black ant, common in 

 France, to be blind : I found it on the contrary very 

 impatient of light. 



ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION. 



UNLIKE snails and worms, among which there is no 

 distinction between the males and females, insects 

 have the two sexes as distinct as the larger animals, 

 and in many respects are similar to birds, so far as 

 pairing is concerned, that is, a single male associates 

 with a single female. Exceptions to this general rule 

 occur among hive bees, and the white ants of warm 

 countries ; a single female, called the queen, being 

 attended by many males, while the young are nursed 

 by a peculiar class, (not exactly females, but more 

 like these than like males,) called nursers, or workers. 

 The reverse takes place among poultry and black 

 cattle, one male being attended by many females. 

 Among ants, wasps, and humble bees, several indi- 

 vidual females in the same hive are attended by 

 several males. 



Insects differ from birds and many other animals, 

 in the male taking no share whatever in providing 

 for the young, either before or after pairing. 



The male is generally smaller than the female, 

 sometimes, but not always, brighter or differently 

 coloured ; is distinguished in moths and gnats by the 

 ears being feathered or ornamented, while those of the 

 female are plain; and in grasshoppers and cuckoo-flies 

 by wanting the ovipositor. In some insects the male 



