LEPIDOPTERA. 157 



in his devotions, is as different in appearance from 

 her mate as can well be imagined. As already 

 stated, she resembles a soft fleshy maggot, without 

 the least trace of wings or limbs, and furnished an- 

 teriorly with a sort of horny head, much flatter than 

 the rest of the body, Avhicfi can be protruded with 

 facility between the segments of the bee's abdomen. 

 In their earliest form, just after quitting the egg, the 

 larvae are minute active creatures, furnished with six 

 legs, by means of which the little creatures are 

 enabled to run about freely upon the abdomen of 

 the bee, in which their mother is parasitic ; and so 

 numerous are they in general that, according to 

 Mr. Smith, this portion of the infested animal often 

 appears as if it were dusted over with a whitish 

 powder, from the crowds of these minute larvae upon 

 its surface. Thus carried about from flower to 

 flower, amongst the hairs of the bee, some of them 

 are left behind on every blossom she visits, where 

 their activity renders it an easy matter for them to 

 attach themselves to the body of the next comer. 

 By this they are unconsciously conveyed to its nest, 

 where they bury themselves in the bee larvae, and 

 remain feeding upon the substance of their unfortu- 

 nate hosts, until they have attained their full de- 

 v^elopment. Nevertheless, the Stijloinzed Bees, as 

 they are called, fly about with the same activity as 

 those which are free from such unwelcome guests, 

 and thus tend still further to diffuse the race of 

 parasites by whicli they are infested. 



Order Lepidoptera.* 



Insects belonging to the Lepidopterous Order are 

 at once recognizable from the structure of their four 

 ample wings, which are generally thickl}^ clothed on 

 both surfaces with minute feather-like scales that 

 overlap each other, and being of different colours 

 arranged in patterns, often form a Ivind of mosaic 



* XeTTts, lepis, a scale ; irrepov. ptcron, a imng. 



