154 COLEOPTERA. 



perforate the corneoiis covering of the abdomen, and so 

 support itself by suction ; on the under side of the 

 head, at its junction with the body, there was a con- 

 cavity, but I could observe nothing in this but a 

 uniform unbroken surface. As the body of the animal 

 is inserted in the body of the Melitta, does that part 

 receive its nutriment from it by absorption ? After I had 

 examined one specimen I attempted to extract a second, 

 and the reader may easily imagine how greatly my as- 

 tonishment was increased, when after I had drawn it 

 out but a little way, I saw its skin burst and a head as 

 black as ink, with large staring eyes and antenna? con- 

 sisting of two branches, break forth and move itself 

 briskly from side to side. It looked like a little imp of 

 darkness just emerging from the infernal regions, ^ly 

 eagerness to set free from its confinement this extraor- 

 dinary animal may be easily conjectured. Indeed I was 

 impatient to become better acquainted with so singular 

 a creature. When it was completely disengaged and 

 I had secured it from making its escape, I set myself to 

 examine it as accurately as possible, and I found, after 

 a careful inquiry, that I had not only got a nondescript, 

 but also an insect of a new genus, whose very class 

 seemed dubious." (Kirby's Monographia Apnm An- 

 cjUw, ii., p. 110-113). 



The subject has received considerable attention since 

 Mr. Kirby's time, and several species of Stylops have, I 

 believe, been described ; there are only two genera at 

 present known, Stylops and Xenos. The habits of 

 Styloids remind one of those of the oil-beetle (Meloe), of 

 which I have already spoken in the chapter that treats 

 of the Coleoptera, and strange and abnormal as this 



