The Blister-Beetle and the Oil Beetle. 



113 



but part of the tore-both' is 

 scarcc'h- thicker than its thii^hs 

 and drawn out to one-half the 

 entire length of the Insect, so 

 that it looks like an extravagant 

 neck. 



The Blister-Beetle and 

 the Oil-Beetle. 



The blister-beetle ^ has 

 long been familiar from its use 

 in medicine as a blistering 

 agent, and under its alterna- 

 tive name of Spanish-flv as a 

 reputed producer of hair on 

 bald heads. But its life-hist()r\- 

 is more interesting than its 

 uses. It abounds in Southern 

 Europe and South-west Asia, 

 and occurs, though a doubtful 

 native, in the East and S<^uth 

 of England. It is a slender 

 beetle, of a shining bronze- 

 green colour, and about three- 

 quarters of an inch in length. 

 It feeds upon the leaves of 

 ash, privet, and lilac. The 

 minute grub that hatches from 

 the fgg is unlike the larv?e of 

 most beetles, liaxing six long 

 legs, which tit it for activity, 

 strongly protuberant eyes, and 

 two long, tail-like ap|)endages to 

 stage is to come across a >inal] bee named ceratina, which nests in the stems 

 of bramble and lilac. When it met'ts with this bee it attaches itself to the hairs 

 of her bod\-, and so gets conv'eved to her not. Taking up its position in the bee's 

 cell it waits till the bee lays an egg, and then indulges in its first meal. This consists 

 of the be(>'s egg, and it is pro\-ided with long, sharp mandibles, apparently for the 

 special pur])ose ot pitrein- the >he]], tor it has no other use for tlu'm. Ha\'ing 

 finished this repast, and being now hve or si.x days old, it casts its skin, and becomes 

 a littU^ white grub with six feet. Its mandibles have become short and blunt, for 

 its food in this stage is semi]i(|ui(l tlie hone\- >t(»re(l up b\- the bee for the sustenance 

 of its own grub -and re(piires no cutting. l-'i\e da\s later it casts its skin again, 

 and now its jaws are still more blunt and its eyes less prominent, for in the darkness 

 of the bee's cell it has no need of them. This phase of its existence lasts five days 



* Lvtta vesicatoria 



1/ / 



/'/;.-;-. ';; -7 V ^ . . ; ,. / R.M.S. 



I'liE .\nt-Lion"s J.wvs. 

 The head of the ant-lion is lure seen niagriilicii seventy times, to show^the 

 jaws and their connections clearly. Then> is no month in the usual sense of 

 the word. .MI the food of the aiit-lion is ni-.;;'ssarily of a lluid nature, and is 

 extracted from its prey by means of the sharp-pointed, curved mandibles, whost- 

 tips are perforated. The juices of thf victim pass along a groove into tlie closed 

 moutli ; and the two ribbon-like processes, sliown separated in the photograph, 

 move slightly backwards and forwards in this groo\-e to regulate the flow. 



the hind-liodw Its main object in this 



