300 STATES OF INSFCTS. 



as you may see in D. Aloeus, Antmts, Actaon, &c, as 

 likewise those of Lucatius, are larger than the unarmed 

 females a . In the Ncuroptera the female Libellulidce are 

 sometimes sensibly smaller, and never larger, than their 

 males b . In the Hymenoptera the male of the hive-bee, 

 but more particularly that of Anthidium manicatum and 

 other bees of that genus, is much more robust than the 

 other sex c . In the Diptera, the same difference is ob- 

 servable in Syrphis Ribesii, and some other aphidivorous 

 flies, and also in Scatophaga stercovaria d . And amongst 

 the apterous, tribes, we are informed by De Geer that 

 the male of Argyroneta aquatica^ which builds an aerial 

 palace in the bosom of the waters e , usually exceeds the 

 female in bulk f . The reason of this rule seems in some 

 degree connected with the office of the female as a mo- 

 ther, that sufficient space may be allowed for the vast 

 number of eggs she is destined to produce; and it is 

 when impregnation has taken place, and the eggs are 

 ready for extrusion, that the difference is most sensible. 

 In the majority of cases this sexual disproportion is not 

 very considerable, but in some few it is enormous. Reau- 

 mur mentions a beetle, of which he intended to o-ive the 

 history, the male of which is so small compared with the 

 female, that a bull not bigger than a sheep, or even a 

 hare, set by the side of the largest cow, would aptly con- 

 trast with them. This little beetle, he says, has wings 



a Oliv. N. i. t. If. 1. c.f. N. 3. t. m.f. 22. a be. t. v. /. 33. 

 t. \\.f. 5. t. xiii./. 124. a b. b Reaum. vi. 423. 



c Kirby Mon.Ap. Angl. ii. t. xvlf. 12, 13. t. xvii./. 10—12. 

 d Reaum. iv. 393. e See abovej y 0L> I# 4 ~ 3 _ 



s De Geer vii. 304. 



