52 ORIGINAL ARTICLES. 



are hatched, the parasites appropriate to themselves so much of the 

 nourishment belonging to the bee, that the latter becomes seriously 

 incommoded by their presence. As from the misappropriation of its 

 blood the bee became weaker and weaker, it would, probably, feeling 

 its end approaching, crawl into some long grass, or other place of con- 

 cealment. 



As soon as the bee was dead, the young Spha3rulari probably work 

 their way out of it, and immediately begin to look out for a new victim. 

 Those who are so fortunate as to meet with a large female, or queen, 

 may enter it, as young Gordii have been seen to enter other insects, 

 but do not, in all probability, increase much in size at first. This I 

 infer, firstly, because I have not found Sphserulari in autumn, but prin- 

 cipally because they would in this case be much less injurious to the 

 bee than if they immediately began to increase in size. "When the 

 spring commences, the female Sphserularia probably begins to grow 

 rapidly, and soon lays eggs. I am inclined to think that young Spha> 

 rulari also occur in workers, and that I have overlooked them on ac • 

 count of their minuteness ; since there seems no reason to suppose that 

 the young Sphaerulari have sufficient intelligence to distinguish Queen 

 Bees from workers, or even from other insects. 



M. Fabre, who has so graphically described (Ann. des Sc. ISTat, 1858) 

 the extraordinary series of adventures through which the young of 

 Meloe attain to maturity, found that, though their only chance of life 

 was to attach themselves to Anthophora, or to its parasites Melectes and 

 Coelioxys, yet they were equally ready to spring on other insects, or even 

 on pieces of straw, if brought within reach, though, curiously enough, 

 they seem, according to M. Fabre, to gain wisdom by experience, and 

 not to be so easily duped a second time: — 



"II est vrai," says M. Fabre, "qu'arrives sur ces objets inanimes, ils reconnaissent 

 bientot qu'ils ont fait fausse route, ce que Ton voit aisement a. leurs marches et contre- 

 marches desesperees, et a leur tendance a revenir sur la fleur s'ils en est encore temps. 

 Ceux qui se sont aussi jet6s etourdiment sur un bout de paille, et qu'on laisse retourner 

 sur la fleur, se reprennent diflicilement au meme piege. II y a done aussi pour ces points 

 vivants une memoire, une experience des cboses!" 



I have not myself bad any opportunity of repeating these experi- 

 ments; but some months ago, being on a geological excursion in a sand- 

 pit, where there were few, if any flowers, I was surprised to see on a 

 herbaceous plant several yellow flowers with which I was quite un- 

 acquainted. On gathering one or two, however, my surprise was in- 

 creased, when the supposed flower broke up, and ran away, turning out 

 to consist entirely of small, yellow larvse. Unfortunately I had neither 

 bottle nor pillbox with me, and was unable to carry any specimens 

 home ; but it occurred to me at the time that they were young Meloes ; 

 and that, in the absence of any flowers near them, they had in this 

 manner attempted to supply the deficiency. I was certainly completely 

 taken in ; and as I think that my eyes are better than those of most 

 bees, I have little doubt that they also would have fallen into the trap. 



