﻿Mr. 
  F. 
  Smith 
  on 
  the 
  

  

  IT. 
  Note 
  on 
  the 
  Pediculus 
  Melittre 
  of 
  Kirhy. 
  

   By 
  F. 
  Smith, 
  Esq. 
  

  

  [Read 
  2nrJ 
  February, 
  1852.] 
  

  

  As 
  everything 
  connected 
  with 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  genus 
  Meioe 
  

   must 
  be 
  highly 
  interesting 
  to 
  the 
  Entomologist, 
  I 
  have 
  considered 
  

   it 
  desirable 
  to 
  lay 
  before 
  the 
  Society 
  a 
  circumstance 
  which, 
  how- 
  

   ever 
  perplexing 
  it 
  may 
  appear, 
  and 
  however 
  unsatisfactory 
  it 
  may 
  

   be 
  pronounced 
  to 
  be, 
  is 
  still 
  intimately 
  connected 
  with 
  an 
  insect, 
  

   the 
  economy 
  of 
  which 
  long 
  proved 
  a 
  problem 
  in 
  natural 
  history. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Newport, 
  in 
  his 
  admirable 
  paper 
  on 
  Meloe, 
  published 
  in 
  

   the 
  Linnean 
  Transactions, 
  mentions 
  having 
  found 
  a 
  larva 
  resem- 
  

   bling 
  that 
  of 
  Meloe 
  in 
  form, 
  but 
  of 
  a 
  deep 
  black 
  colour, 
  and 
  having 
  

   brown 
  eyes, 
  on 
  a 
  specimen 
  of 
  Osmia 
  spinulosa 
  ; 
  and 
  he 
  further 
  

   observes, 
  " 
  this 
  is 
  certainly 
  not 
  the 
  larva 
  of 
  either 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  

   of 
  Melees 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  observed 
  ;" 
  although 
  he 
  says, 
  " 
  I 
  am 
  

   equally 
  satisfied 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  the 
  larva 
  of 
  some 
  genus 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  

   family." 
  

  

  Now 
  however 
  probable 
  this 
  assumption 
  may 
  appear, 
  and 
  cer- 
  

   tainly 
  it 
  receives 
  considerable 
  support 
  from 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  larvae 
  

   of 
  several 
  allied 
  genera 
  bear 
  a 
  striking 
  resemblance 
  to 
  that 
  of 
  

   Meloe, 
  still 
  the 
  assumption 
  requires 
  confirmation, 
  based 
  upon 
  

   actual 
  observation 
  ; 
  for 
  without 
  such 
  evidence 
  we 
  may 
  hereafter 
  

   learn 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  founded 
  in 
  error, 
  so 
  frequently 
  do 
  we 
  see 
  the 
  

   early 
  stages 
  of 
  one 
  animal 
  represented 
  in 
  the 
  perfect 
  state 
  of 
  

   another. 
  M. 
  Leon 
  Dufour 
  considered 
  this 
  animal 
  to 
  be 
  an 
  apte- 
  

   rous 
  perfect 
  insect,* 
  as 
  also 
  did 
  Mr. 
  Kirby, 
  who 
  named 
  it 
  Pedi- 
  

   culus 
  Melittce. 
  The 
  opinion 
  of 
  Entomologists, 
  generally, 
  has 
  been 
  

   against 
  these 
  assumptions, 
  but 
  I 
  think 
  it 
  will 
  becoiue 
  a 
  subject 
  of 
  

   greater 
  perplexity 
  than 
  ever, 
  and, 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  time, 
  one 
  of 
  greater 
  

   interest, 
  when 
  I 
  relate 
  the 
  following 
  observation. 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  6th 
  of 
  April 
  last, 
  I 
  visited 
  a 
  bank 
  containing 
  a 
  colony 
  

   of 
  Jnthophora 
  Haworlhnna 
  ; 
  at 
  that 
  period 
  the 
  bees 
  were 
  in 
  a 
  semi- 
  

   torpid 
  state, 
  it 
  being 
  about 
  six 
  weeks 
  earlier 
  than 
  their 
  usual 
  time 
  

   of 
  appearance. 
  1 
  placed 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  bees 
  separately 
  in 
  pill 
  

   boxes, 
  and 
  on 
  examining 
  them 
  some 
  days 
  afterwards 
  I 
  was 
  sur- 
  

   prised 
  to 
  see 
  several 
  living 
  specimens 
  of 
  the 
  Pediculus 
  running 
  

   over 
  the 
  bees. 
  This 
  observation 
  appears 
  to 
  me 
  to 
  render 
  the 
  

   question 
  even 
  more 
  perplexing 
  than 
  before, 
  or 
  it 
  is 
  confirmatory 
  

  

  • 
  Ana. 
  des 
  Sc. 
  Nat. 
  1828. 
  

  

  