316 Mr. Newrort on the Natural History 
different sizes and ages, and having placed each in a separate glass tube, 
included with them in each tube five or six of the larvae of Meloë. At first 
the Meloés collected on the body of the bee-larva, and appeared as if inclined 
to feed upon it; but having left the tubes undisturbed for the night, I found 
at the expiration of eighteen hours that the Meloés were removed from the 
larva, and collected together as usual at the upper part of the tube. At the 
expiration of forty-two hours they remained in the same state, so that the 
only conclusion I was enabled to arrive at was, that the larvae of JMeloé 
violaceus and Meloé proscarabeus are not parasitic on the half- or full-grown 
larva of Anthophora retusa. Yet from the circumstance of their always 
attacking the larvae in these experiments, there seems reason to suspect that 
they may prey on the very young of some species of bee, soon after it has left 
the egg, although not in its advanced growth. It was unfortunate, that at 
the time of making these observations I had not any young larvae of Meloé 
cicatricosus, the species which I have constantly found in the full-grown larva 
state, as well as in that of the nymph, and of the recently-developed perfect 
insect, in the same bank with, and amongst the nests of Anthophora, and I 
have not since had any opportunity of pursuing my researches with the young 
of that species. I ought here to state, that although I have for several years 
past obtained Meloé cicatricosus in all its stages from localities crowded with 
the nests of Anthophora, I have never obtained either M. violaceus or M. pro- 
scarabeus from the same spot, although the whole of these Species are very 
common in their perfect state in the meadows immediately adjoining the 
bank in which I have found M. cicatricosus and the Anthophore. The con- 
clusion therefore which seems to be indicated is, that although the whole of 
the species of Meloé reside as parasites in their larva state in the nests of 
Hymenoptera, only M. cicatricosus is parasitic on Anthophora retusa, The 
great length of time which the larvze of all the species can live without taking 
food after they have left the egg, is indicative of a precarious mode of exist- 
ence. Most of the specimens I have reared have lived from fifteen to twenty 
days after coming from the egg, and during that period have not much in- 
creased in size, but have died, apparently from want of proper nourishment. 
Although I have not traced the young larva of Meloé cicatricosus directly 
into the nest of Anthophora, I will now endeavour to prove that that is the 
locality in which it resides as a parasite, and where it undergoes its develop- 
