The Glow-Worm and Other Beetles 



the generic name of Triungulinus, was 

 recognized later by Newport ^ as the larva 

 of a Meloe, or Oil-beetle. Now it so hap- 

 pened that I had found a few Oil-beetles in 

 the cells of the same Anthophora that nour- 

 ishes the Sitares. Could there be a similar- 

 ity of habits between the two kinds of in- 

 sects? This idea threw a sudden light for 

 me upon the subject; but I had plenty of 

 time in which to mature my plans: I had 

 another year to wait. 



When April came, my Sitaris-larvae began, 

 as usual, to bestir themselves. The first Bee 

 to appear, an Osmia, is dropped alive into a 

 glass jar containing a few of these larvae; 

 and after a lapse of some fifteen minutes I 

 inspect them through the pocket-lens. Five 

 Sitares are embedded in the fleece of the 

 thorax. It is done, the problem's solved I 

 The larvae of the Sitares, like those of the 

 Oil-beetles, cling like grim death to the fleece 

 of their generous host and make him carry 

 them into the cell. Ten times over I repeat 

 the experiment with the various Bees that 

 come to plunder the lilac flowering outside 

 my window and in particular with male An- 



1 George Newport (1803-1854), an English surgeon and 

 naturalist, president of the Entomological Society from 

 X844 to 1845 and an expert in insect anatomy. — Trans- 

 lator's Note. 



56 



