270 NATURAL HISTORY. 
have a peculiar prolongation of the last segment, which 
in one division of the order is an ovipositor, and in the 
other is a sting. The Hymenoptera are farther distin- 
guished by a remarkable development of the instinctive 
faculties, especially those which have a complicated so- 
cial organization of their communities, as the Bees. 
461. The metamorphosis in this order is complete, the 
pup being quite inactive, and the larvee are more im- 
perfect than in any other order. In most of the species 
they have no feet, and resemble worms. The larve of 
some of them, however, are like caterpillars, and have 
eighteen or even twenty feet. Jaeger says of them that 
they live “in clean places, such as cells artificially built 
of wax, pieces of wood, leaves, or mortar; or they dwell 
in wood, in holes under ground, in gall-apples, or oak- 
balls, and many live in caterpillars; but none inhabit car- 
rion, dunghills, or other putrid and filthy places.” 
462. None of the Hymenoptera are very large, and 
some are exceedingly small. In numbers this order is 
inferior only to the Coleoptera, and it has been estimated 
to contain one fourth of the whole insect world. Though 
the Hymenoptera are the most numerous and largest in 
tropical countries, they are widely distributed in almost 
every part of the earth. They are mostly great workers, 
and none are nocturnal, but all do their work in the day. 
Some of them are very useful to man, the Bees supplying 
him with honey and wax, and the Gall-insects with a 
material valuable for making ink, and especially for 
coloring. 
463. We divide the order into two groups: 1. The 
Terebrantia, or Borers, whose females have ovipositors ; 
2. The Aculeata, or Stingers, in which the females have 
a sting, or piercer, connected with a reservoir of poison. 
I will notice but a few families in each group. 
464. The family of Gall-flies is one of the most prom- 
inent among those of the first group. These insects, 
with their ovipositors, make slits in various parts of 
