268 



MANUAL OF ZOOLOGY. 



membrane. The larvse are sometimes provided with feet, and 

 live on vegetable food (as in the Tenthredinidce, fig. 95); but 

 they are mostly footless, without a distinct head, and fed by 

 the adult. 



The Hymenoptera form a very extensive order, comprising 

 the Bees, Wasps, Ants, Ichneumons, Saw-flies (fig. 95), &c. 



P*S. 95- — Gooseberry Saw-fly {Tenthredo £yossuIariee\ larva, pupa, and imago. 



The ovipositor, which is very generally present in the females 

 of this order, is sometimes a boring organ (terebra), or in other 

 cases a " sting" {aculeus). 



Amongst the Hymenoptera we find social communities, m 

 many respects resembling those of the Termites, of which a 

 description has already been given. The societies of Bees 

 and Aiits are well known, and merit a short description. 



The social Bees, of which the common Honey-bee {Apis 

 mellificd) is so familiar an example, form organised communities 

 consisting of three classes of individuals — the males, females, 

 and neuters. As a rule, each community consists of a single 

 female — " the queen" — and of the neuters, or " workers." The 

 impregnation of the female is effected by the production of 

 males, or " drones," during the summer. After impregnation 



