132 SAWFLIES AND BEES 



intelligent, thus confirming the accuracy of 

 observation of the Old Testament writers. 

 Until a comparatively recent period, it was 

 generally assumed that the bee surpassed all 

 insects in intelligence; now it is the ant 

 which takes the lead, and it was to the ant that 

 these old writers sent men to seek counsel. 



The Hymenoptera, or Membrane - winged 

 insects, fall quite naturally into two divisions. 

 Those furnished with a saw or borer form 

 one group ; those bearing a sting form 

 another. The saw or borer is used to make 

 a hole in a leaf or branch for the reception 

 of eggs ; the sting, for many purposes in 

 connection with the building of nests and 

 combs, its aid as a defence being, no doubt, a 

 secondary service to the insect. The two 

 divisions are known scientifically as terebrant 

 and aculeate hymenoptera respectively. The 

 terebrant species vary as regards their method 

 of feeding, some feeding on plants and others 

 on insects. This circumstance enables us to 

 subdivide them into phytophagous and entomo- 

 phagous hymenoptera. The sawflies and bees 

 belong to the terebrant-phytophagous and 

 the aculeate divisions. 



