HYMENOPTEEA. 



CHAPTER I. 



-S-^ W-FLIES. 



We now come to one of the largest and most important orders 

 of insects, namely the Hyjienoptera, an order which com- 

 prises the insects known popularly as Saw-flies, Gall-flies, 

 Ichueimion-flies, Ants, Wasps, and Bees. Those insects which 

 are known as White Ants or Termites, belong, however, to a 

 different order, namely the Neuroptera. 



The characteristics of this order are well defined, and there 

 is no difficulty in ascertaining, almost at a glance, whether an 

 insect belongs to the Hymenoptera or not. The wings are 

 four in number, the second pair being smaller than the first 

 pair, and havijig fewer veins. They are without hair and 

 membranous, as indeed is shown by the name Hymenoptera, 

 which is formed from two Greek words, the one signifying a 

 membrane, and the other a wing. When at rest, the wings 

 are separate, but when the insect flies, both pairs are hitched 

 together by a series of little hooks which run along the upper j 

 edge of the lower pair, so that, for the time, the insect flies 

 with two wings instead of four. These hooks are beautifully 

 constructed, and should be examined with a microscope. They 

 will be found well developed in the common wasps and bees. 

 On Woodcut XXVIII. the wings of a hornet are shown on the 

 left side as they appear when separated, and on the right as 

 they are when united by the hooks. The head is armed with 

 horny jaws, and between them lies a fleshy tongue enclosed in 

 the maxillae, which form a sort of sheath to it. The abdomen 

 of the female is furnished with a horny ovipositor formed of 



