130 



The first clearly recorded facts, however, that wc have of the history of 

 this curious beetle are the observations of the late Mr. Stone. In a paper com- 

 municated to the Entomological Society he says : — " On the 19th of August I 

 was more fortunate ; for on taking out a nest of Vespq, vulgaris, and proceeding 

 to open the closed-up cells, I found a larva of the parasite firmly attached to 

 the full-grown larva of the wasp, the mouth of the former buiied in the 

 body of the latter just below the head, its neck bent over that of its victim, 

 whose body appeared to be tightly compressed by that of its destroyer, showing 

 the latter to be possessed of a considerable amount of muscular power. It 

 was of minute size when discovered, and appeared to have only very recently 

 fastened upon its victim ; but so voracious was its appetite, and so rapid its 

 growth, that in the course of the following forty- eight hours it attained its full 

 size, having consumed every particle of its prey, with the exception of the skin 

 and mandibles, which, from observations I have since been enabled to make, 

 these creatures retain in their grasp even after they have passed into the pupa 

 state. They scarcely appear to cease eating, except now and then for a minute 

 or so, from the time they first begin to feed till they have become full-grown." 



Mr. Andrew Murray was led by some observations he made in the sum- 

 mer of 18G9 to call in question the facts of this history, and to advance the 

 hypothesis that the Rhipiphorus was in its larval state fed up by the wasps 

 as their own grubs are ; in fact, that its life history differs from that of the 

 wasp only in so far that a Rhipiphorus finally emerges from the cell instead 

 of a wasp. During the present summer Mr. Murray himself succeeded in 

 repeating the observations of Mr. Stone, and abolished all doubt as to the 

 accuracy of the already recorded facts in the history of the Rhipiphorus. He 

 has recorded his observations in the September number of the Annals and 

 Magazine for this year, and I am enabled, by his courtesy, to append to this 

 paper a copy of the plate with which he illustrated these observations. Up 

 to this point it was assumed that the egg of the Rhipiphorus was laid in the 

 cell with the wasp-grub, on which the Rhipiphorus larva fed, and Mr. Murray be- 

 lieved that he had seen such an egg, and has figured it (Figs. 1 and 2). At almost 

 the same time that Mr. Murray made these observations, I had independently ob- 

 served the same facts, and a further series of facts in the history of the beetle, 

 that renders it one of the most curious in insect history, and compels us to 

 classify Rhipiphorus with Meloe, Sitaris, and Stylops, insects whose history is 

 now tolerably well known. 



Several species of Meloe are well known (as Oil-beetles) being often seen in 

 early spring crawling over paths on heaths and commons. They are large, heavy, 

 blue-black, bloated-looking creatures, crawling slowly, and exuding a clear yellow 

 fluid from their joints when disturbed. The female Meloe excavates a large 

 cavity in the ground rather over an inch deep and deposits in it several thousand 

 small yellow eggs, which she carefully covers up. She repeats this egg-laying 

 two or three times. After about three weeks, if the weather is fine, the young 

 larvre are hatched, and, escaping from the ground, swarm up the plants around, 



