Wie 
HYMENOPTERA. 
Tuer Order Hymenoptera comprises those insects which have four 
naked membranous wings, lying in repose horizontally upon the 
body, and intersected by a network of nerves. The name is 
derived from two Greek words—ipyv, a membrane, and zreodv, a 
wing. The mouth is composed of two horny mandibles, jaws, and 
lips adapted for suction. 
It is amongst the Hymenoptera that we meet with the most 
industrious insects, some of which seem to possess real intelligence. 
These little animals offer the most admirable examples of socia- 
bility. Born architects, they construct dwellings marvellously 
contrived, which serve them, at the same time, as nurseries in 
which to rear their progeny, and storehouses in which to lay by. 
their provisions. Nothing can equal the solicitude with which 
they watch over their young larve, still incapable of motion. 
They form republics, governed by immutable laws, and make war 
against their enemies in order of battle. They have predilections 
or antipathies for those who court their society, on account of the 
material advantages they derive from them. 
The Bees, the Humble Bees, the Wasps, and the Ants, are the 
best-known types of this order of insects. Among a great number 
of the Hymenoptera the females are armed with a sting, or lancet, 
a wound from which causes great pain. All these insects undergo 
complete metamorphoses. In the larva state the aculeate species 
are incapable of motion and of obtaining food; but nature has 
provided in different ways for their preservation. They are often 
lodged and fed by the workers of the tribe, unfruitful females, 
which, with a self-denial very rare in nature, seem to have no 
