112 BRITISH BEES. 



for it, but all are unsatisfactory. The Order consists of 

 three genera (Stylo/js,Elenchus,a,nd Halictophagus) found 

 in England, and other parts of Europe ; indeed, the genus 

 Elenchus has been also discovered in the Mauritius. 

 The Continent possesses the genus Xenos, of the same 

 order, and parasitical upon a wasp, neither of which occur 

 with us. 



Mr. Kirby, in studying the bees for his invaluable 

 ' Monographia Apum Anglise/ first came across this 

 extraordinary creature. His description of his discovery 

 is highly interesting. He says, at page 111 of volume ii. 

 of the above work, that having observed a protuberance 

 upon the body of the bee, he was anxious to ascertain 

 whether it might be an Acarus, and goes on : " What was 

 my astonishment when, upon attempting to disengage it 

 with a pin, I drew forth from the body of the bee, a 

 white fleshy larva, a quarter of an inch long, the head of 

 which I had mistaken for an Acarus. How this animal 

 receives its nutriment seems a mystery. Upon examining 

 the head under a strong magnifier, I could not discover 

 any mouth or proboscis with which it might perforate 

 the corneous covering of the abdomen, and so support 

 itself by suction ; on the under side of the head, at its 

 junction with the body there was a concavity, but I 

 could observe nothing in this but a uniform unbroken 

 surface. As the body of the animal is inserted in the 

 body of the bee, does that part receive its nutriment 

 from it by absorption ? After I had examined one 

 specimen, I attempted to extract a second, and the 

 reader may imagine how greatly my astonishment was 

 increased, when, after I had drawn it out but a little 

 way, I saw its skin burst, and a head as black as ink, 

 with large staring eyes, and antenna consisting of two 



