BLISTER BEETLE. 159 



Entomologists believe that this is not an indigenous insect, 

 but has been introduced from the Continent. It occurs much 

 too sparingly in this country to be of any practical use, and 

 our chief supply is obtained from Spain, whence the popular 

 name of Spanish Fly. In England it is usually found in the 

 southern counties, the ash being its favoured tree, and when it 

 is seen at all, it generally occurs in some profusion. Should 

 the Beetle-hunter capture any of these insects, he is advised to 

 be very cautious how he handles them. He should carefully 

 avoid allowing his fingers to come near his eyes, and should 

 wash them as soon as he has finished his task. Indeed, with 

 these Beetles, the less the fingers, and the more the forceps, are 

 used, the better for the operator. 



On Woodcut XV*. Fig. 1, is drawn a very- remarkable, and 

 in this country very rare, insect, called Sitaris muralis, a 

 Beetle which derives its specific title from the fact that it is 

 parasitic on certain solitary bees which inhabit holes in walls. 

 Bees belonging to the genus Anthophora seem to be chiefly 

 the objects of its attacks. On the Continent it is comparatively 

 common, and it is from Continental entomologists that we 

 have received our principal knowledge of the Beetle and its 

 habits. 



The Beetle is known by the elytra, which are very long and 

 narrowed to the apex, but do not cross each other. There are 

 two wings, and the antennte are quite simple, without pectina- 

 tion or serration. The colour of the insect is very plain, the 

 body being black and the elytra yellowish-brown. 



The female Sitaris acts in some respects like the female 

 Meloe, for she deposits her eggs in packets containing several 

 thousands each. She does not, however, lay them in the 

 ground, but places them at the very entrance of the holes in 

 which the bees have taken up their residence. The eggs are 

 hatched, and the little larvae, which have larger bodies and 

 shorter legs than those of the Meloe, enter the nest, and there 

 undergo their transformations. 



Mr. Westwood mentions some curious discoveries communi- 

 cated to him by M. Audouin : — ' In examining the interior of a 

 nest of a large Anthophora, very common near Sevres, he 

 detected one of the bee-larvae in its cell, with the interior of 



