Note 347 — Chapter VIII

One parasitic Hymenopterous insect (Westwood, ‘Modern Class. of Insects,’ vol. ii, p. 160) forms an exception to the rule, as the male has rudimentary wings, and never quits the cell in which it is born, whilst the female has well-developed wings. Audouin believes that the females are impregnated by the males which are born in the same cells with them; but it is much more probable that the females visit other cells, and thus avoid close inter-breeding. We shall hereafter meet with a few exceptional cases, in various classes, in which the female, instead of the male, is the seeker and wooer.