The species belonging to the order Hymenoptera are among the most interesting of insects. To this order belong the gallflies, the sawflies, the ichneumons, and, above all, the ants and bees. We are accustomed to class the Anthropoid apes next to man in the scale of creation, but if we were to judge animals by their works, the chimpanzee and the gorilla must certainly give place to the bee and the ant. The larvæ of the sawflies, which live on leaves, and of the Siricidæ or long-tailed wasps, which feed on wood, are very much like caterpillars, having three pairs of legs, and in the former case abdominal pro-legs as well: but in the great majority of Hymenoptera the larvæ are legless, fleshy grubs (Plate II., Figs. 7-9); and the various modes by which the females provide for, or secure to, them a sufficient supply of appropriate nourishment constitutes one of the most interesting pages of Natural History. The species of Hymenoptera are very numerous; in this country alone there are about 3,000 kinds, most of which are very small. In the pupa state they are inactive, and show distinctly all the limbs of the perfect insect, encased in distinct sheaths, and folded on the breast. In the perfect state they are highly organized and very active. The working ants and some few species are wingless, but the great majority have four strong membranous wings, a character distinguishing them at once from the true flies, which have only one pair of wings. The saw-flies are so called because they possess at the end of the body a curious organ, corresponding to the sting of a wasp, but which is in the form of a fine-toothed saw. With this instrument the female sawfly cuts a slit in the stem or leaf of a plant, into which she introduces her egg. The larva much resembles a caterpillar, both in form and habits. To this group belongs the nigger, or black caterpillar of the turnip, which is often in sufficient numbers to do much mischief. Some species make galls, but the greater number of galls are formed by insects of another family, the Cynipidæ. [Illustration: PLATE I.[7]—MATURE INSECTS. Fig. 1, Cricket; 2, Earwig; 3, _Aphis_; 4, _Scolytus_; 5, Anthrax; 6, _Balaninus_; 7, _Cynips_; 8, Ant; 9, Wasp.] [Illustration: PLATE II.—LARVÆ OF THE INSECTS REPRESENTED ON PLATE I. Fig. 1, Larva of Cricket; 2, Larva of Aphis; 3, Larva of Earwig; 4, Larva of _Scolytus_ (Beetle); 5, Larva of _Anthrax_ (Fly); 6, Larva of _Balaninus_ (Nut Weevil); 7, Larva of _Cynips_; 8, Larva of Ant; 9, Larva of Wasp.]