HYMENOPTERA. 591 



fSee the Tiionoi3:raph of British Clirysides published by Shuckard in the Entomolofi'ical Magazine, and t?ie more 

 recent one of Kliifi;, and Spinola's memoir in l\mfriinc\\ Entomological ^Socie/g^s Transactions, as well as riamt 

 Faigeau's, in the Menioircs da Museum. 



The sccoud section of the Ilymenoptcra, the Aculeata, differs from the first iu wanting 

 a borer; a sting, composed of three pieces, which is concealed and retractile within the 

 abdomen, ordinarily replaces it in the females and in the neuters of such s[)ecics as are 

 united in societies. Sometimes, as in some Ants, this sting does not exist, and the insect 

 defends itself by ejecting an acid liquid secreted in special reservoirs under the form 

 of glands. 



The llymenoptera of this section have always the antenuiE simple, and composed of a con- 

 stant number of joints, namely, thirteen in the males and twelve in the females; the palpi 

 are ordinarily filiform ; the maxillary palpi often longer, have six joints, and the laljial four. 

 The mandibles are smaller, and often more toothed in the males than in the other individuals. 

 The abdomen, united to the thorax by a peduncle, or slender thread, is composed of seven 

 joints in the males and six in the females. The four wings are always veined, and offer the 

 different sorts of ordinary cells. 



1 he larva; have never any feet, and subsist upon food which the females or neuters provide 

 them with, consisting either of the dead bodies of insects, or the honey of fiowers ; and in 

 some species of a mixture of pollen, stamens, and honey. 



This section is divided into four families, [Heterogyna, Fossores, Diploptera, and 

 Antho2ihilu~\. 



THE FIRST FAMILY OF THE ACULEATED HYMENOPTERA, 



The Heterogyka — 



Is composed of two or three kinds of individuals, of wliicli the most common, or tlie neuters, or 

 females, have no wings, and rarely ocelli distinct. All of them have the antennce elbowed, and the 

 lovver lip small, rounded, and vaulted or spoon-hlce. 



Some of these live in society, and present three kinds of individuals, of which the males and females 

 are winged, and the neuters wingless ; in the last two kind of individuals the antenn:e are thickened 

 to the tips, and the lengtli of tlic basal joint is at least equal to one-third of their entire lenglh ; the 

 second is nearly as long as the third, and in the form of a reversed cone. The upper lip of the 

 neuters is horny, and shuts perpendicularly beneath the mandibles. These Uymeuoptera compose 

 the genus 



FoRMici, Linn, (or the Ants), — 



So celebrated for their foresight, and of which some are so well known for the injnry they commit in 

 our gardens and the interior of our houses, where they attack saccharine matters, preserved viands, &c., 

 giving them a disagreeable scent of musk; whilst others are equally obnoxious to trees, by gnawing 

 the interior, in order to make for themselves a haliitation where they may breed. 



The Ants have the peduncle of the abdomen like a scale or knot, either single or double, whereby 

 they are easily distinguislied. They have the antenna; elbowed, generally rather thicker at the tips ; 

 the head triangular, with the eyes oval or rounded, and entire ; the clypeus large ; the jaws very 

 strong in a great number, but of which the form varies in the neuters ; the maxdte and labium are 

 small : the palpi filiform, those of the maxillse being longest ; the tliorax compressed at the sides, and 

 the abdomen nearly oval, furnished in the females and workers either with a sting or with glands 

 situated near the anus, which secrete a peculiar acid, called formic acid. 



They live in society, often of great extent, each species consisting of males and females, which have 

 win^s which are much less veined than in the majority of this section, and which easily fall off; as 

 well as of neuters, wdiich are destitute of wings, and which are only females with the ovaries imperfect. 

 The two former kind of individuals are only found temporarily in the Ants' nest, from which they 

 make their escape almost as soon as they have gained their wings. The males are much smaller in 

 size than the females, as are also their heads and mandibles, and the eyes larger. The union of the 



