F.4LKE SCORPIONS 111) 



Ju Europe the blind Cherncs nodosus Schrank, attaches 

 itself to the leg\s of Hies and is carried hither and thither 

 at the will of the tly ; as iiiauy as six have been fouud 

 clinging to a single Hy, hanging doggedly on in spite of 

 the efl'orls made by the tly to dish)dge them. I have seen 

 a similar (»ceurrence in South Africa. On 29 January. 

 1915. at Pirie. while at our morning hymn, I noticed on 

 the white i.iblecloth before me a tly with a false scorpion 

 attached to its legs. AVith ill-suppressed excitement I 

 watched the Hy within tantalising reach of my hand, 

 and 1 saw that the false-scorpion belonged to one of the 

 smaller species. As it clung to the fly's leg with the* 

 fingers of one of its long nippers, it kept its fore-body 

 drawn uj) closely to its nipper, thus exhibiting the great 

 muscular strength of the nipper. At the close of the 

 liynm I tried to capture the fly but failed; and in spite 

 of all attention bestowed on the fly papers thereafter 

 the })i-ize was not secured. False-scorpions are beasts of 

 prey; and it would appear — although this is not fully 

 proven — that the little false-scorpion grips the fly with 

 the purpose of sucking it, but, being too small and help- 

 less to accomplish this object at once, it simply hangs 

 on to the fly till the death of the fly aftords the false- 

 scorpion his long-expected meal. 



This " little red crab " is carried about from place to 

 place, clinging to the leg of a bee, but in the hive it moves 

 about freely unattached. It would appear to be a social 

 ally of the bees, depending on them for transport from 

 place to place, but not actually preying on them. It is 

 much more likely to be living on tiny parasites in the 

 hive and therefore to be r-eckoned as a friend of both bees 

 and bee-keeper. 



Other species strike up relationships wdth other groups 

 of insects; CheUfer termitophilus Tj^ll. lives in termite- 

 heaps ; Mynnochernes africanns Tull. is found in the nest 

 of an ant; and, in South America, two species live under 

 the elvtra of beetles. 



