
HYMENOPTERA. 313 
vocation than to sacrifice themselves to the welfare of the larvee. 
The workers construct the nest and bring in the provisions. This 
is the case with some bees, wasps, and ants. 
Some deposit their eggs in the bodies of other insects, which die 
immediately the larvee which live in them have attained their full 
development. The larve of the Chalcidie and of the [chneumon fur- 
nish examples of Hymenoptera which inhabit the interior of the body 
of another insect. Other parasitical species carry on their depre- 
dations in a different way. They content themselves with laying 
their eggs in the nests of other species of the Order, which have the 
advantage over them in being able to construct for themselves places 
of refuge. Their larvee live thus on their neighbours’ goods, nourish- 
ing themselves on the provisions which were laid up for others. In 
this way live the Cleptes, the Chrysides, &c. Lastly, others, such 
as the Gall-insects, and the Tenthredinete, or Saw-flies, live in their 
first state exposed on plants, and feed upon their leaves. | 
We shall only here describe the principal families of the Order 
Hymenoptera, which contains a considerable number of species. 
These families will be—1st. The Apzari@, containing the Honey 
Bees; the Melipona, and the Humble Bees. 2nd. The Vespiaria, or 
Wasps. 3rd. The formicariea, or Ants. 4th. The Gallicole, or 
Gall-insects. 
Brrs.—Man, from the very earliest age, before any civilisation 
existed, knew the value of bees, and took advantage of the pro- 
ducts of these industrious insects. The Bible makes mention 
of bees. Their Hebrew name is Deborah. The Greeks called 
them by the name of Melissa, or Melitta. 
Their wonderful architectural powers, their economical fore- 
thought, the wonderful combination of their reasonings, which 
denote a real intelligence, their admirable social organization, 
have in all times fixed the attention of naturalists, as they have 
also that of poets and thinkers. Virgil has celebrated them. 
In the fourth book of his Georgics, the Latin poet has summed 
up all that the ancients knew about bees. He paints with a good 
deal of truth many traits in their history, points out their enemies, 
and sets forth with accuracy all the care that should be taken of 
“m. In the words of the Mantuan poet, they are heavenly 
aifts, dona celestia, and their intelligence excited his admiration :— 

