AFFECTION OF INSECTS FOR THEIR YOUNG. 371 



Thus, from the very moment of the extrusion of the 

 egg to the maturity of the perfect insect, are the ants 

 unremittingly occupied in the care of the young of the 

 society, and that with an ardour of affectionate attach- 

 ment to which, when its intensity and duration are taken 

 into the account, we may fairly say there is nothing pa- 

 rallel in the whole animal world 3 . Amongst birds and 

 quadrupeds we have instances of affection as strong per- 

 haps while it lasts, but how much shorter the period du- 

 ring which it is exerted ! In a month or two the young 

 of the former require no further attention ; and if in a 

 state of nature some of the latter give suck to their off- 

 spring for a longer period, it is on their parts without 

 effort or labour ; and in both cases the time given up to 

 their young forms a very small part of the life of the ani- 

 mal. But the little insects in question not only spend a 

 greater portion of time in the education of their progeny, 

 but devote even the whole of their existence, from their 

 birth to their death, to this one occupation ! 



The common hive-bee and the wasp in their attention 

 to their young exhibit the same general features. Both 

 build for their reception hexagonal cells, differing in size 

 according to the future sex of the included grubs, which 

 as soon as hatched they both feed and assiduously tend 

 until their transformation into pupae. There are pecu- 

 liarities, however, in their modes of procedure, which re- 

 quire a distinct notice. 



The economy of a nest of ivasps differs from that of 



pulled off, that it could not be known that they formerly had them, 

 only by the sockets in which they were inserted. 

 * Huber,93. 



2 B 2 



