110 BURMA, ITS PEOPLE AXB PRODUCTIOXS. 



" The genus Sitaris (a small beetle allied to Canthrria, the hlister fly, and to Meloe, 

 the oil beetle) is parasitic on a kind of bee {Anthophora), which excavates subter- 

 ranean galleries, each leading to a cell. The eggs of the Sitaris, which are deposited 

 at the entrance of these galleries, are hatched at the end of September or the begin- 

 ning of October, and M. Fabre (Ann. des Scien. Nat., ser. 4, tome vii.) not unnaturally 

 expected that the young larvae, which are active little creatures, with six serviceable 

 legs, would at once eat their way into the cells of the Anthoplwra. No such thing ; 

 till the month of April following they remain without leaving their birthplace, and 

 consequently without food, nor do they in this long time change either in form or in 

 size. ... In April, however, his captives at last awoke from their long lethargy, 

 and hun-ied anxiously about their prisons. Naturally inferring that they were in 

 search of food, M. Fabre supposed that this would consist either of the larvffi or 

 pupae of the Anthophora, or of the honey with which it closes its cell. All these were 

 tried without success. M. Fabre was in despair. ' Jamais experience n'a eprouve 

 pareille deconfiture. Larves, Nymphes, cellules, miel, je vous ai tous offert : que 

 voulez-vous done bestioles maudites ? ' The first ray of light came to him from our 

 countrynum, Newport, who ascertained that a small parasite found by Leon Dufour 

 on one of the wild bees, and named by him Triangulinus, was, in fact, the larva of 

 Meloe. The larvoe of Sitaris much resembled Dufour's Triangulinus, and acting on 

 this hint M. Fabre examined many specimens of AntJwplwra, and found on them at 

 last the larvte of his Sitaris. The males of Aiithop/iora emerge fi-om the pupa; sooner 

 than the females, and il. Fabre ascei'taincd that as they came out of their galleries 

 the little Sitaris larvai fasten upon them. Not, however, for long ; instinct teaches 

 them that they are not yet on the straight path of development, and watching their 

 opportunity they pass from the male to the female bee." This may be considered 

 the first act of the drama ; but marvellous is the faculty whicli the young Sitaris 

 must be gifted with at its tender age to play the part necessary f(jr its own existence. 

 But to follow M. Fabre : " Guided by these indications, JL Fabre examined several 

 cells of the AnfJwphora. In some the egg of the Anthophora floated by itself on the 

 surface of the honey ; in others on the egg, as on a raft, sat the still more minute 

 larva of the Sitaris. The mystery was solved. At the moment when the egg is laid, 

 the Sitaris larva springs upon it. Even while the poor mother is carefully fastening 

 up her cell, her mortal enemy is beginning to devour her oifspring, for the egg of the 

 Anthophora serves not only as a raft, but as a repast. The honey which is enough 

 for either would be too little for both, and the Sitaris therefore, at its first meal, 

 relieves itself from its only rival. After eight days the egg is consumed, and on the 

 empty shell the Sitaris undergoes its first transformation, and makes its appearance 

 in a very different form. With the change of skin the active slim larva changes into 

 a white fleshy grub, with the mouth beneath and the spiracles above the surface, 

 ' grace a I'embonpoint des ventre,' says M. Fabre, ' la larve est a I'aljri de I'asphyxie.' 

 In this state it remains till the honey is consumed, then the animal contracts and 

 detaches itself from its skin, within which the further transformations take place. 

 In the next stage, which M. Fabre calls the pseudo-chrysalis, the larva has a solid 

 corneous envelope and an oval shape, and in its colour, consistency, and immobility 

 reminds one of a dipterous pupa. The time passed in this condition varies much ; 

 when it has elapsed, the animal moults again ; again changes its form, and after this 

 it again becomes a pupa without any rcnuirkablo peculiarities. Finally after these 

 wonderful changes and adventures, in the month of August the perfect Sitaris makes 

 its appearance." 



The above is an admirable sketch of the life history of a European species, but 

 hundreds of similar histories might he written of Burmese species by a similar ex- 

 penditure of industry in obsen'ing, as that displayed by M. Fabre, whose peaceful 

 exploits are really as glorious and as worthy of imitation as any achieved by his 

 heroic countiymen at Marengo or Austerlitz. 



Family Ehipidophoridae. 



B.HrPID0PH0KU8. 



