﻿8 BRITISH BEETLES. 



metathorax much developed, and bearing two very large, 

 fan-like wings ; and the tarsi having from two to four 

 joints. Their worm-like, footless larvae are found in 

 the bodies of various wild bees, upon which they are 

 parasitic; and this habit is one of the chief .reasons for 

 their being considered coleopterous, as there are certain 

 species of the Meloida (with somewhat abnormal elytra) 

 which are also parasitic upon bees, etc. The subject 

 is one of great interest and difficulty, as these insects 

 have been placed by various authors in the Hymenoptera, 

 Coleoptera, and Diptera, and even considered by some as 

 allied to the Hemiptera, Orthoptei'ci, and Lepidoptera. 

 Nevertheless, the extremely minute development of their 

 prothorax seems to be much against the correctness of 

 their location among Coleoptera, in which that part is 

 always conspicuously large. 



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