COLEOPTERA. 153 



the bee in which their mother brought them forth ; in 

 this way they are carried to the nest of the bee ; there 

 they bury themselves in the bodies of the bee-larvae, 

 become converted into soft grubs and live upon its 

 fatty matter until the bee-larv3e arrive at their perfect 

 state. Both male and female Stylops assume the pupa 

 stage within the body of the bee ; but on becoming 

 perfect insects the male Stylops, being a winged insect, 

 flies off, while the female, being a wingless, legless, 

 helpless creature, remains for ever a prisoner for life. 

 After giving birth to a numerous family of larvie the 

 female dies. The Stylops was first discovered by 

 Mr. Kirby, who, observing certain mite-like creatures 

 infesting the bodies of a wild bee {Andrena), attempted 

 to remove one. He thus speaks of his discovery: 

 " Upon this insect, Melitta {Andrena) nigrv-cenea, I 

 discovered a very singular animal, which seems appro- 

 priated to the present genus. I had previously more 

 than once observed upon other species something which 

 I took to be a kind of Acarus, which appeared to be 

 immoveably fixed just at the inosculations of the dorsal 

 segments of the abdomen ; at length finding three or 

 four upon a specimen of 31. nigro-ccnea, I determined 

 not to lose that opportunity of taking one off to 

 examine and describe ; but what was my astonishment 

 when upon my attempting to disengage it with a pin, 

 I drew forth from the body of the Melitta a white fleshy 

 larva, a quarter-of-an-inch in length ; the head of 

 which I had mistaken for an Acarus. How this animal 

 receives its nourishment seems a mystery. Upon ex- 

 amining the head under a strong magnifier, I could not 

 discover any mouth or proboscis with which it might 



