INSECTA 119 



ever, the males fertilize young females so as to enable them 

 to start colonies for the next year. The two common 

 ' ' paper- wasps " in the United States are Vespa and Polistes. 

 Their nests are made of chewed vegetable fibers. 



The bees are included in one great family, Apidce. As 

 among the wasps there are solitary and social species. 

 There are also burro wers, carpenters, leaf-cutters, etc. 

 Bees may have short or long tongues and the food varies 

 accordingly. The bumble bee is like the social wasps, in 

 that most of the colony dies with the advent of winter. 

 The honey-bee, however, has a perennial community which 

 gives off new colonies by "swarming." When swarm- 

 ing takes place a queen rushes from her parent hive, fol- 

 lowed by most of the workers and the drones, or males. 

 She is fertilized but once; while making this flight, and is 

 then able to lay thousands of fertile eggs. Scouts go out 

 from the swarm and locate a good place for a new colony. 

 The queen never leaves the new home, but spends her time 

 going about laying eggs in the comb which the workers 

 construct. She is fed and cared for by the workers, but 

 usually dies after three or four years and is replaced by a 

 young queen. The bee-industries in the United States 

 are of considerable importance. About seventeen million 

 dollars worth of honey and wax are produced annually. 



The ants (Formieidce, Fig. 58) are remarkable for their 

 development of social instincts. They have gone far 

 ahead of the bees in this respect, and even excel the ter- 

 mites. The queens start the colonies, as among other 

 social Hymenoptera, and the workers are all sterile females. 

 Polymorphism reaches great extremes in all the castes. 

 The queens and males may be large or small, and with or 

 without wings. The worker caste may have several 

 varieties, such as large and small workers, soldiers, door- 

 keepers, crop harvesters, and nurses. 



Ants carry on many complicated activities which involve 

 the cooperation of all members of the colony. The leaf- 

 cutters of tropical America build large nests in forests. 



