272 



Marvels of Insect Life, 



of the innocent humble-bee, but we naturally inquire what the inofiensi\'e humble-bee 

 has done that its insidious foe should have Divine backing ? As a matter of fact, 

 the early Victorians were on the wrong track entirely in this matter, for the bee-like 

 fly is no enemy, but a friend, and its counterfeit resemblance is not intended to 

 impose upon the bee, but upon creatures who know the bee has a sting and who 

 may be disposed to let the unarmed fly go scatheless under the impression that 

 it is not a Ify but a bee. From which it appears that Darwinism has vindicated 

 Providence from the well-intentioned assaults of the teleologists. 



That the grub of one of the drone-flies ^ lived upon the grubs of the humble-bee 

 was assumed to be a fact until yesterday, probably owing to confusion of this species 

 with another we shall have occasion to describe separately. Observers of the bees 

 had seen the volucella-grub among the cells of the humble-bee, nay actually in the 

 ( ocoons ; and if the cocoons were empty, was not that presumptive evidence that 



the volucella-grub had 

 emptied it by eating the 

 bee-grub ? The facts of 

 the case show that the grub 

 of the fly, though theru 

 '->^'7' — -"mrr ^T ^^^^^^Bl <•"-— ■♦^ solely to serve its own ends. 



^ -*-• "" ^:r;^^^^^^^BK— r *- ^\^^^ j^^ ^q g^^^ ^ livmg, is 



at the same time rendering 

 valuable service to the 

 bee by its consumption of 

 filth and effete matter. 

 The bee apparently recog- 

 nizes the value to the 

 community' of these offices, 

 and it offers no hindrance 

 to the scavengers. \Mien 

 a cocoon has been vacated 

 by its inmate coming to 

 the winged stage, and (put- 

 ting it, the workers adapt 

 it ' to a new use by storing pollen in it ; but they could not do so unless 

 it were first cleaned out in a way that is impossible to the bulky humble-bees. 

 The humble-bee grub when casting its last skin to become a chrysalis throws out 

 the accumulated waste of its larva-hood, and later there is the empty chrysalis 

 skin also. All this useless material the volucella-grub turns to account as lood. 

 Its body is broad behind and tapers away to the front, and as the body is ca})able 

 of considerable elongation forward, it is able to reach and thoroughly clean the deej^est 

 part of the cocoon as well as the top and middle d('))ths. It is just ]^ossible that 

 if the modern hive were not so carefully constructed to keep out as far as possible 

 all but the honey-bees, foul-brood might not be so common and increasing a scourge. 

 The volucella-grubs might do for the honey-bcK^ what they do lor the humble-bee. 

 To make it (piite clear that the old idea of these grul:)s feeding upon the grubs 



1 N'olucella bombylans. 



Photo by] [E. Step, F.L.S. 



The Humble-Bee's Drone-Fly. 



The breadth and hairiness of the body of this two-winged fly gives it asuperiiciaHikeness 

 to some of the smaller humble-bees ; and it was formerly assumed that the resemblance 

 was for the purpose of enabling the fly to enter the bee's nest unobserved, there to lay its 

 eggs and so bring about the destruction of the bee colony. This lly is not an enemy, 

 but a friend to all bees and wasps. U is here magnified three times. 



