Stylops Spencii. 



CHAPTER VII. 



STREPSIPTERA, OR BEE-PARASITES. 



"I HAD more than once observed/^ says the Rev. 

 William Kirby in his admirable Monograph of the 

 British Bees_, '^'^npon species [of Bees] something that 

 I took to be a kind of Acarus, which appeared to be 

 immoveably fixed jnst at the inoscnlations of the 

 dorsal segments of the abdomen : at length finding 

 three or four upon a specimen of Melitta nigro-(Bnea^, 

 I determined not to lose that opportunity of taking 

 one off to examine and describe ; but what was my 

 astonishment Avhen^ upon attempting to disengage it 

 with a pin^ I drew forth from the body of the bee a 

 white fleshy larva a quarter of an inch long, the head 



* An abundant species of Bee, which makes its appearance 

 in April. 



H 2 



