ET MdEl'KS DES MÉLOÏDES. 351 



'' Hicliburouyh, where 1 had obtaiiied tlie l'iill growii lurva aiid 

 « iiymph , an abundance of larvae recendy developed from the 

 «eggsof Me/oe violaceus and M eloe proscarabceus . Previously to 

 M makinj; any Irial with (hesc spécimens in Ihe ncis o\' Anlhoplwra, 

 » 1 liad placod a few lu tiie celis of a pièce ol' oid lioncy-comb, 

 « and found tliat conirary lo tlieir nsiial habit of wandering, they 

 » remained perfectly qiiiel in die cells. Froni liiis circumstanee I 

 » hoped lo succced widi tlieni in Ihe cells of Anthophora. . . . 



»I placed some of thèse young il/e/oes in nestsof Anthophora 

 » retusa which contained cach a bee-maggot and a large ([uanlity of 

 » poilen-paste ils properfood.... At (irst I believed tiial Ihe cxpe- 

 » riment had succeeded, as one of llie spécimens bcgan immedia- 

 » tely lo altempi lo pierce the skin of the bee-larva wilh ils man- 

 » dibuies, and, as I Ihen supposed, was feeding on ils Jniees. But 

 » doser examinalion soon occasioned me lo doulil lliat the larvse 

 ^> oi Anthophora are Ihe proper food of the spccies with which 1 

 »\vas making liie experimenl. In order farther lo assure myself 

 » of Ihe Iruth, I put several larvae ofil/etoe inio the ceils o^AnthO' 

 » phora, and lefi Ihem for further examination. On Ihe ibllowing 

 » day I again visiled Ihespol, bal could not discover a single larva 

 »ofMe/oe in Ihe nesis iri which I had placed them. Tiie larvœ of 

 " Anthupliora were slill liicre, wilh Iheir cells stored wilh food, but 

 » tiie Meloes were gonc. 



» To ascerlain moi'e dceidedly whellier Ihe young Meloe is pa- 

 » rasitic on Ihe body of liie bec-larva, I sciecled lliree spécimens 

 »of larvai of Anthophora of différent sizes and âges, and iiaving 

 » placed eacli in a scjiarale glass lube, iiicludcd wilh llicm in each 

 » lube lise or six ot tlic larviju oii Meloe. At lirsl Meloes colleclcd on 

 » (lie body of the bee-larva, and appearcd as if inclined to feed 

 » upoii il, but having left the tubes undislurbed for Ihe niglil, I 

 II foimd at llie expiration of eightcen hours thaï Ihe Meloes were 

 » removed from Ihe larva, and coliccled logclhcr as iisual al Ihe 

 » up[ier part of Ihctube. At liie expiration ol'forly-lwo hoinslliey 

 « remained in llio saine slale, so Ihal llie only (;oiic!iision I was 

 " iTialilril 1(1 arrive al was Ihal Ihe laivii' of Meloe violarens and 

 » Meloe proscarabœus art' iiol parasitic on tln' liait' ni' fiill-grnwn 



