LECTURE IX. 
113 
laritj ill their history which is unexampled in 
that of any other. This consists in the double 
change of the winged insect, which as soon as 
it springs from the chrysalis, flies to some ad- 
joining body, and then again divests itself of its 
skin, that of the wings themselves not excepted. 
The Order Hymenoptera consists of Insects 
with four membranaceous wings, but not remark- 
ably fibrous as in the former Order*. It contains 
all the Wasp and Bee tribe; the Ichneumons and 
a variety of others. The general history of the 
Bee and ATasp tribe being pretty familiar to 
most persons, I shall confine myself to an ex- 
ample or two from the genus Ichneumon, the habits 
of which, so far as relates to the production of their 
young, are peculiarly singular. The genus Ichneu- 
mon is distinguished by long, slender antennae, 
wdth a great many joints, and by the very slender 
process which connects the breast with the body 
of the animal, and which in many species appears 
like a kind of footstalk. 
* They are also furnished in general with a sting or 
piercer, which in some is irlnocent, while in others it is calcu- 
lated for the discharge of a highly acrimonious or poisonous 
fluid> as in wasps and bees. 
LECT. II. 
I 
