154 FIELD ZOOLOGY. 



the delicate walls of the comb, or for manipulating the 

 propolis to repair the comb in case of accident. 



The ovipositor of the females throughout the order 

 presents some curious modifications. In the case of the 

 homtails and the big Thalessa, we have seen that the 

 ovipositor is modified into a drill for depositing the eggs 

 under the tree bark. Among the saw-flies, the ovipositor 

 serves as a saw to cut into young stems or leaves in order 

 to deposit the eggs therein. Among most of the ichneu- 

 mons, the gallflies, and practically all the parasitic 

 hymenopters, the ovipositor is used as an awl to prick 

 a hole in a leaf, a stem, or the epidermis of some caterpillar 

 in which to deposit the eggs. The queens — colony 

 mothers — and the workers — ^infertile females — of the 

 wasps and the bees, and the stinging ants, all have the 

 ovipositor formed to serve as a sting. This sting is the 

 most effective means of defense possessed by insects. 



This last fact presents a curious anomaly among the 

 members of the animal kingdom, at least among the higher 

 orders. It is usually the male that is the larger and 

 endowed in such a way that he is the defender of the 

 home and the offspring. Among the lower groups, after 

 the appearance of the male as a factor in the repro- 

 duction of the species, it is the female that is the larger 

 and also the defender of the home and the offspring 

 where there is a definite place of abode. In the order of 

 the Hymenoptera, which is considered well up toward the 

 highest of the insects, if not at the head, we still see the 

 male in the place of subordination; especially is this true 

 among the community hymenopters, the highest of the 

 hymenopterous families. 



The hymenopters all have complete metamorphosis, 

 and the larvae are peculiarly dependent upon the parents 



