352 Mr. Newport on the Natural History 



But a close examination of the structure of the mandibles of the young 

 Mehe, and its habit of appearing to seize with them, and to thrust them into 

 the soft parts of the tegument of the bee which it clings to, as at the junction 



their full growth before the bee-larva changed to a nymph. The general appearance of the head, 

 antennae and eyea in these larvae, and the existence of what might readily be regarded as atrophied 

 caudal styles, all conspired to lead to this view ; while the form of their mandibles, and the circumstance 

 of the larvae being included in a cell in which a bee-larva had recently become a nymph, and, above 

 all, that of their actually feeding on the rejectamenta voided by the young bee at its change, then led 

 me further to think that the Meloe is parasitic on the food of the young bee, and not on the bee itself. 

 But as at that time the specimens were still living, and had not undergone any change since they were 

 taken in the preceding October, 1 did not describe them as actually the young of Meloe. 



As I have now traced these larvae to their imago state, it may be well to append a short notice of the 

 species to my paper on Meloe, as of an insect which is occasionally found in the cell of Anthophora, 

 the usual habitation of the larva of Meloe cicatricosus. 



The larva (Tab. XIV. fig. 34, u) were nearly all of the same size, and each measured about one-third 

 of an inch in length. They were fat, white, and very active, with the body formed of thirteen seg- 

 ments, besides the anal one, which was employed in locomotion as a pro-leg. Each segment was 

 armed with a few elongated tufts of hairs. In the general form of the head and antennae the larva 

 resembled the early stage of Meloe. The antennae were four-jointed, with the second joint the longest 

 and somewhat clavate, and the third and fourth delicate and setaceous. The head was somewhat 

 quadrate (fig. 35), wider than long, with a short trsuisverse lip, and a small projecting ocellus at each 

 of its anterior angles. The mandibles were short, thick, and a little acute at the apex, and resembled 

 those of a vegetable-feeding larva ; while the palpi were filiform and slightly elongated, and the 

 labium was narrow and deeply emarginated. The prothorax was broad, rounded in front and dilated 

 at its sides ; and the meso- and metathoracic segments were soft, and did not -present any difference 

 in appearance from those of the abdomen. The legs were short, strong, scaly, and terminated in a 

 single acute claw ; and the praeanal segment was armed with a pair of short horny styles. 



I kept these larvae in a small glass vessel, partially filled with dry clay, in the midst of which I placed 

 them, in the cell of Anthophora, with the bee-nymph, which they did not attempt to injure, but 

 usually concealed themselves beneath it, amidst the rejectamenta, on which, as I have stated, they fed. 

 They very much resembled the larva of Opilus mollis, figured and described by m}' friend Mr. Water- 

 house' ; but on showing them to that gentleman, I found they were quite unknown to him. They 

 seemed to prefer a very dry locality, as on moistening the soil with a few drops of water they were 

 greatly inconvenienced. In the beginning of January 1846 each specimen had quitted the cell, and 

 excavated for itself a little burrow in the clay, and on the 28th and 29th of January they changed to 

 nymphs. 



The nymph (fig. 36) closely resembled in appearance that of Diaperis Boleti. The first and second 

 pairs of legs were flexed at right angles with the body, and the third pair diagonally, the extremity 

 of the femoral joint projecting externally to the elytra, i he anal and praeanal segments were each 



' Trans. Ent. Soc. Lend. vol. i. pi. 6. fig. 1 . 



