IIYMENOPTERA. 
119 
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females possess an ovipositor in tlie form of a saw or 
auger, hence the term, from terebra , “ a borer;” in the 
latter the females are provided with a venomous sting. 
The Terebrantia are again divided into two sub-sections, 
the Phytopkagci , because the larvae feed on plants, and 
the Entomophaga , whose larvae (with the exception of 
those of the gall-flies) feed on other insects. In the 
Plant-eating Borers and Saw-flies the abdomen 
sessile, that is, attached to the thorax by its whole 
width; in the Insect-eaters the abdomen is attached to 
the thorax by stalk of short or extended length. The 
instrument by means of which the Saw-fly ( Tentliredo ) 
forms a depression in a branch or leaf, or notch for the 
attachment of her eggs, consists of a double serrated 
auger, the teeth of the saw being themselves toothed. 
“ The perfection of this minute weapon,’ 5 Professor 
Duncan observes, “ suggests that manufacturers might 
take a lesson from it, and invent a cutting saw with 
double serrations, which might be of infinite use in the 
arts.” The Saw-flies larvae are eminently destructive in 
gardens and turnip fields, causing very serious losses at 
times. 
The Gooseberry-leaf eater must be familiar—at least, 
its damages must—to all who have strolled in the 
kitchen garden. The eggs, little white specks, are 
placed down the mid-rib of the leaf, and the hatched 
larvae begin their devastations at once, in a short time 
eating the whole of the leaf, with perhaps the exception 
of the thick parts of the mid-rib. I have just brought 
in two larvae of the Gooseberry Saw-fly (Nematus 
grossulcirice ) from the garden ; the bush is stript ab¬ 
solutely bare of leaves. The larva might at first be 
