3. The =Ant Lions= (_Myrmeleon_), of which the fat, thick-set larvæ,
which have a large head and strong grasping pincers, dig out in the sand
funnel-shaped holes, at the bottom of which they hide, lying in wait for
ants and the like, which step on the edge, when the sand gives way and
causes them to fall in. The species of the first two genera are of
service as destroyers of aphides; the ant lions are of no importance.
The =Scorpion Flies= (_Panorpatæ_) have attached to the head a kind of
proboscis, the upper side of which is formed by a prolongation of the
forehead, and the under side by the maxillæ and lower lip, while the
upper lip and mandibles are hinged on at its tip. Here belongs the
slender-bodied =Scorpion Fly= (_Panorpa communis_), an insect found in
May, and again in July or August, on the leaves of trees and shrubs,
when it is sunny. While the abdomen of the female ends in an ovipositor,
it bends upwards in the male, and terminates in a pincer-like organ;
hence the name “scorpion fly.” Wings flecked with brown. Scorpion flies
catch on the wing a very large number of butterflies and moths, and are
therefore useful to some extent.
FOURTH ORDER: =Hymenoptera= (MEMBRANOUS-WINGED INSECTS).
Upper lip and mandibles short; the latter used for biting. Maxillæ
loose-jointed, so that they can be stretched out considerably; elongated
in those which lick the juices of flowers. In the last-named forms the
larva’s lips are still more elongated, and may even form a tongue or
proboscis-like organ, which may bear lateral appendages (“secondary
tongues”). Wings, four, all membranous, with relatively few veins (Figs.
61, 90). Metamorphosis complete; larvæ very various; pupæ free (p. 93).
The female usually possesses an ovipositor, the structure of which
varies a great deal, and which serves in many species, not only for
egg-laying, but also for protection (digging wasps); in others
exclusively for offence or defence (“stings” of bees and wasps), while
the same opening serves for the passage both of eggs and excrement. The
abdominal glands, secreting a sticky substance by which the eggs are
attached, are modified into poison-glands in those Hymenoptera which
possess a sting. In those forms where the ovipositor is not modified
into a sting, it is used for piercing, biting, or sawing. The
Hymenoptera with saw-like ovipositor first make an opening in wood or in
a leaf by means of the saw-teeth in its edge, and then lay an egg in
this hole.
[Illustration:
FIG. 87.—Head of Honey Bee. _A_, compound eyes; _a_, simple eyes; Fh,
antennæ; _Z_, tongue (under lip); _b_, labial palps; _Fz_, elongated
maxillæ; the mandibles and upper lip remain short.
]
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