INVESTIGATIONS ON THE MUTILLID WASPS 21 



Inasmuch as Mutillids are known to attack solitary bees, and bum- 

 blebees, they might reasonably be expected to be parasites of the 

 honeybee. Several cases are known of Mutillids attacking honey 

 bees. C. V. Riley (18705) published a letter from a correspondent 

 at Clarksville, Texas, regarding one of these instances: 



A few days since, while in my apiary watcliing a hive at work, I observed 

 a very large female (Cowkiller) running over a flowering peach tree that over- 

 shadowed the "gum." Finally she came down and entered the hive. I tilted 

 the " gum " to see what she was doing and found a number of bees trying to 

 dislodge her, but to no purpose. Whenever she could shake them off sufficiently 

 she would continue her march over the bottom board in search of food, picking 

 up fragments of comb and young bees, and occasionally sending a bee to its 

 final account with her formidable sting, and caring but little for their rage 

 and fury ; encased as she is in her impenetrable armor, she bids defiance to the 

 puny stings of bees. Finally I had to come to their aid. Since then I have had 

 to free several other hives from these depredators. 



This is the only case of Mutillids attacking hive bees reported from 

 the United States. A second case is reported from Europe, however. 

 Schoenfeld (1878) published a letter written to him by a cooperator 

 describing the attack of Mutilla eiiropaea on honeybees. A transla- 

 tion of the letter and Schoenf eld's remarks follows : 



The five living insects enclosed are a very frequent occurring enemy of bees 

 in our region, of which the scientific name is probably Mutilla etiropaea, or 

 bee ants, and of which, to my knowledge, no mention is made in any of the 

 bee journals nor in any handbook of bee culture. I have taken two of these 

 specimens out of the beehive myself, and even from the brood layer itself, but 

 the other three were caught before they had entered the hive. 



The presence of these insects in a hive is apparent a short time after their 

 entrance by the bees rushing out at the entrance, engaged in a death struggle, 

 with convulsive movements of the appendages, the extruding of the proboscis, 

 and contraction of the body, but often continuing to live for a day. That these 

 symptoms are caused by a poisoning of the unfortunate animals from the sting 

 of the enemy is not improbable. I have found as many as 200 bees killed in 

 this way in a hive within 24 hours. On rainy days, when the bees do not 

 remove the coi-pses so easily, and the fatally injured ones do not rush out the 

 entrance, they cover the bottom layer as completely as in a spring purification. 

 A hive in which this insect has remained for some time will become so sparsely 

 populated that as a rule it does not swarm and sometimes is even entirely 

 exhausted. 



This bee enemy which I have not met with anywhere outside of the region 

 of my present activity (Gutenstein, in lower Austria) has occurred here for 

 many years and is a great menace for the beekeeper. During the last three 

 weeks I have caught and destroyed at least 100 specimens of it. Since the 

 animal is wingless (the males are winged, but are not injurious to the bees), 

 one can protect against their presence by isolating the beehive from the ground, 

 which is accomplished by smearing it with pitch. The litter of ashes which 

 is so effective against ants does not appear to furnish sufficient protection 

 against the Mutilla. The insect occurs from the beginning of April until late 

 in autumn, although it usually only displays its murderous activities up until 

 the end of warm weather. 



