300 AFFECTION OF INSECTS FOR THEIR YOUNG. 



The ovipositor of the Capricorn beetles, an infinite host, is a 

 flattened retractile tube, of a hard substance, by means of which 

 it can introduce its eggs under the bark of timber, and so 

 place them where its progeny will find their appropriate food.^ 

 The auger used by certain species of (Esfrus, to enable them 

 to penetrate the hides of oxen or deer and form a nidus for 

 their eggs, has been before described. — But to enumerate all 

 the varieties of these instruments would be endless. 



The purpose which in the insects above mentioned is an- 

 swered by their anal apparatus is fulfilled in the numerous 

 tribes of weevils by the long slender snout with which their 

 head is provided. It is with this that Balaninus Nucum 

 pierces the shell of the nut, and the weevil (^Calandra gra- 

 naria) the skin of the grains of wheat, in which they respec- 

 tively deposit their eggs, prudently introducing one only into 

 each nut or grain, which is sufficient, but not more than suf- 

 ficient, for the nourishment of the grub that will inhabit it. 



II. Hitherto I have adverted to those insects only which 

 perish before their young come into existence, and can there- 

 fore evince their affection for them in no other way than by 

 placing the eggs whence they are to spring in secure situations 

 stored with food, and these include by far the largest portion 

 of the race. A very considerable number, however, extend 

 their cares much further : they not only watch over their eggs 

 after depositing them, but attend upon their young when ex- 

 cluded, with an afiectionate assiduity equal to any thing 

 exhibited amongst the larger animals, and in the highest 

 degree interesting. Of this description are some solitary 

 insects, as several species of the Linnean genus Sphex, ear- 

 wigs, field-bugs, and spiders : and those insects which live in 

 societies, namely, ants, bees, wasps, and termites : the most 

 striking traits of whose history in these respects I shall en- 

 deavour to lay before you. 



You have seen that the greater number of the Sphecina, 

 after depositing their eggs in cells stored with a supply of food, 

 take no further care of them. Some, however, adopt a dif- 



1 See Kirby in Linn. Trans, v. 254. t. 12. f. 15. 



