174 liSSECTS ABROAD. 



beautiful Cardinal Beetle is a i'amiliar example, frequent 

 flowers. 



The larvffi are as various iu their habits as are the perfect 

 insects. Some, such as the Oil Beetles {Melue) and the Ehipi- 

 phorus, are parasitic in the nests of other insects, mostly those 

 of the bee tribe, but not always. 



For example, there is a curious little Beetle {Sijmhius Ucd- 

 taruvi) which, as its specific name imports, is parasitic on the 

 bodies of cockroaches on board ship. I wish that some practical 

 entomologist could establish the Symbius in our houses. Oddly 

 enough, just as is the case with the insects in which it makes 

 its larval residence, the male only is winged, the female pos- 

 sessing neither wings nor elytra. Tlie larva of this Beetle is 

 almost exactly like the perfect female, and might be mistaken 

 for it save by the greater development of the autennte in the 

 perfect insect. 



Some live under the bark of trees, some in fungi ; some, such 

 as the too familiar mealworm (the larva of Tenehrio molitor), in 

 flour, bran, meal, biscuit-casks, and similar localities. Some are 

 found within the stems and roots of living plants, and some on 

 leaves. It is a pity that, as the liabits of the larvie are so 

 diverse, so little should be known about them, especially as the 

 foreign Heteromera are very numerous when compared with our 

 own. Any entomologist whose vocation leads him to some hot 

 portion of the earth, no matter in what country it may be, will 

 find his labours amply repaid, and will confer an inestimable 

 benefit to entomology if he will set himself the task of investi- 

 gating the transformations of the Heteromera, many species of 

 which he is sure to find if he looks for them. 



Perhaps some persons may ask, what can be the use of study- 

 ing the habits of insects and the mode of their transformations ? 

 I have already shown that, even with our limited knowledge on 

 the subject, we know that the transformations of many insects 

 are a great power in the development of the world. It is there- 

 fore but reasonable to infer that if our acquaintance with the 

 subject were more complete, we should learn that even the 

 smallest insects have their parts to play in the world, and that 

 in proportion as man knows their capabilities, so is he carrying 

 out one of the objects for which he, as well as they, were placed 

 in the world. 



