Some insects are also provided with another means of protection
against their enemies, namely a sting. In some this is in front,
connected with the tongue, in others behind at the posterior end.
For just as the organ of smell in elephants answers several uses,
serving alike as a weapon and for purposes of nutrition, so does
also the sting, when placed in connexion with the tongue, as in some
insects, answer more than one end. For it is the instrument through
which they derive their sensations of food, as well as that with which
they suck it up and bring it to the mouth. Such of these insects as
have no anterior sting are provided with teeth, which serve in some of
them for biting the food, and in others for its prehension and
conveyance to the mouth. Such are their uses, for instance, in ants
and all the various kinds of bees. As for the insects that have a
sting behind, this weapon is given them because they are of a fierce
disposition. In some of them the sting is lodged inside the body, in
bees, for example, and wasps. For these insects are made for flight,
and were their sting external and of delicate make it would soon get
spoiled; and if, on the other hand, it were of thicker build, as in
scorpions, its weight would be an incumbrance. As for scorpions that
live on the ground and have a tail, their sting must be set upon this,
as otherwise it would be of no use as a weapon.
Pages:
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199