226 ENTOMOLOGY FOR MEDICAL OFFICERS 



(permanganate of potash, hypochlorite of lime) or astringent 

 lotions (sulphate of zinc, or sulphate of copper, weak solution 

 of perchloride of mercury, or alum) ; carbolised oil also 

 relieves pain, as does belladonna, chloroform water, or a 

 mixture of friar's-balsam and thymol. When constitutional 

 symptoms are manifested, stimulants, such as alcohol, 

 ammonia, ether, and strychnine may have to be given. 



The larvae of the stinging Hymenoptera are soft grubs 

 without legs, and are protected in cells made by the parent, 

 or — in the case of the social forms — as a rule by the foster- 

 parent (worker). 



The Aculeata are grouped in four sections, namely, 

 AntAopz'la, or Bees ; Dijiloptera, or Wasps; Fossores, or Digger 

 wasps ; and Heterogyna, or Ants. 



(a) Anthophila {avQo's = a blossom, ^iXeo) = I love), or 

 ApidcB. The bees are distinguished by the usually hairy 

 body, many of the hairs hemg feathered ; by the broadening 

 and other modification of the first joint of the tarsus (and 

 sometimes also of the tibia) of the hind leg ; by the develop- 

 ment of the labium and maxilljE to form a long or short 

 proboscis ; and by the fact that the " waist " is merely a 

 constriction, not a slender stalk. The females ("workers" 

 included) possess a sting, but there is a group of small bees 

 which are commonly called stingless, since the sting, though 

 present, is not functionally perfect. The habits of the honey 

 bees are well known ; but there are solitary bees, bees that 

 are gregarious but not social, and bees that are parasitic on 

 other bees in a sort of cuckoo fashion. The honey bees live 

 in organised communities, consisting of a queen, an army of 

 workers, and a small number of idle males (drones). The 

 workers make cellular combs of wax secreted by glands on 

 the ventral face of the abdomen, and during the summer 

 they store some of the cells with honey and pollen, and rear 

 the larvEe of the community — an egg being laid in each such 

 cell by the queen — in others. The idle males perish in the 

 autumn, but the queen and workers live through the winter 

 on the food stored in the combs. New swarms are formed 

 by emigration, the band of colonists consisting of a queen 

 and a swarm of workers : these settle, and when the colony 

 has made some increase, the original colonists begin to store 



