The Blister-Beetle and the Oil-Beetle. 



117 



of the beetle. In order that the triun^uhn >houlcl ju>til\- its existenee it should 

 cling only t(j a bee of the genus anthophora or the genus andrena, that being its onl\- 

 avenue to success in life. As a matter of fact it will cling t(j an\- Insect that is 

 sufficiently hairy to enable its hooked feet to hold on. Hni unless it catches the 

 right bee its laborn- is in vain, and it perishes, the success ol the operation depending 

 u})on the triungulin being convewd to the bee's nest. 



Let us suppose that the particular individual in which we are interested lias 

 boarded the right bus, so to s})eak, and arri\'ed in the l)in"ro\\" ot tlu' anthophora, 

 where there is a cell tulh" pi'ox'isioned with honew u])on which the bee now la\'s 

 a floating egg. The triungulin is waiting for this act, and before the bee has time 

 to seal up the cell, it slips off the bee and balances itself niceh* upon the bee's eii;^. 

 At this stage of its existence it is inca})able of feeding upon honey. There is only 

 one thing in the world that will serve for its hrst meal, and if it does not secure 

 this it perishes. That one tlnng is the bee's egg, and this obtained it sets to work 

 to devour it. A bee's egg mav apjicar to be a ver\- small matter for a meal, but it 

 ser\'es the triungidin for several days ; and then this little gourmet casts its hrst 

 skin and aj^pears in a different form. It now more closely resembles the grub 

 of the cockchafer, and is capable of tioating on the honey and of feeding upon it. 

 P)Ut how man\- of its kindred, hatched from the multitudinous eggs of the same 

 mother-beetle, ha\e perished without getting so far on their journex' I In due 

 time it consumes all the hone\', changes into a false chrysalis, when it loembles 

 tlu' legless grub of a bee, then into the true chrvsalis, and linallx- into a perfc'-t 

 oil-beetle. 



There is another beetle — rare in this countrx- named sitaris ' which curiously 

 goes through a similar experience, also in connection with an anthophora-bee. 

 It is more plentiful in the South of h'rance than it is with us, and Fabre has 

 managed to work out its life-history with tolerable com})leteiiess, a matter of 

 considerable difhculty, as will be understood from the following brief statement. 

 Sitaris is not nearly so prolific as meloe, but she lays at least 2,000 eggs, and takes 



^9^ ^-^*1^ 



Phntii by] 



[E. SU-p, F.L.S. 



\lOLET OlI.-liEETLES. 



.V kssconinum niul inoic slender species, whose life-storv is similar to that of the cominon oil-bcctle. The two sexes arc here shown ; 

 the male en the li It, the female on the right. A disti'ngnishing chllerenco between the sexes is aflordcd by the antenna? of the male. 



^ Sitaris luinieralis. 



