ORDER V. IITMENOPTERA. 
69 
an d have only one row of hexagonal cells, flat at bottom, the mouth 
turned downwards, which serve only for holding the young. Every hive 
is begun by a mother, who at first deposits a few eggs, from which neu- 
ters are produced, or working wasps, who assist her in increasing her 
w ork and in feeding the young afterwards produced. Neither males 
t)°f females are produced till towards the month of September. Be- 
tlJ te that time there are none in the nest but the female and the neuters 
sl 'e has engendered. The females remain in the nest. The males do 
t>o work. Wasps feed their larva*, with insects, meat, and the frag- 
ments of fruits. Towards autumn they are said to kill such of the larvae 
mid pupaj as cannot come to perfection before the month of November. 
* i'e males arid neuters perish themselves during winter, and none re- 
l!| ain but a few impregnated females to perpetuate the species. 
% 1. V. Cmbro, the Hornet Wasp. (PI. 0. fig. 8.) 
Inhabits Europe, generally forming its nest in Lire trunks of trees. 
Some little caution is necessary in taking the insects of this species, as 
'! ‘thout care the entomologist is subject to be stung by them. I have 
, ,0, md that the bag nvx(Pl. ll.fg. 4.) is the best means of taking them. 
r, 'e insects when secured in the net should Ire gently trodden upon, 
I' 01 sufficiently to injure, but merely to numb them ; a pin should then 
^ Passed through the thorax, and the insect placed in the pocket box. 
Genus 67. Apis, Bee. 
horny; maxilla and labium membranaceous at the apex: tongue 
inflected : palpi four, unequal and filiform ; antenna : filiform : leings not 
folded : aculeus in the females and neuters concealed in the abdomen. 
$p. l. A. retusu, Linn, (female) pennipes, (male) (PI. 8. Jig. 9. male.) 
Mr. Kirby has desoribed upwards of' 200 indigenous species of this 
5 e nus in his admirable work entitled Monographia Apwn Anglia, 2 vols. 
Sv °- This work is indispensable in the library of every entomologist. 
Genus 68. Eoumica, Ant. 
^‘“Ipi four, unequal, with cylindrical articulations, seated on a sub- 
tnembranaceous cylindrical lip ; antenna filiform; between the thorax 
and the abdomen a small erect scale : the sting concealed in the ab- 
domen, and possessed only by the females and neuters. The males 
and females only have wings. 
-Ml the species of this genus arc of three sorts, males, females, and 
Reuters. The neuters alone labour; they form the ant-hill, bring in 
l ne provisions, feed the young, bring them to the air during the day, 
Car ry them back at night, defend them against attacks, &c. The fe- 
tnales are said to be retained merely for laying eggs, and as soon as 
“'at is accomplished they are unmercifully discarded. The males and 
’eniales perish with the first cold ; the neuters lie torpid in their nest. 
^P- 1. F. hcrculunea. (Ft. 8. fig. 10.) 
