﻿138 
  Mr. 
  S. 
  S. 
  Saunders's 
  Notices 
  of 
  some 
  

  

  influence 
  operating 
  during 
  the 
  period 
  of 
  larva-growth, 
  which 
  we 
  

   should 
  scarcely 
  be 
  warranted 
  in 
  assuming. 
  

  

  How, 
  moreover, 
  should 
  we 
  account 
  for 
  the 
  circumstance 
  of 
  the 
  

   Polistes, 
  the 
  Hijlcei, 
  the 
  Andrence, 
  the 
  Odyneri 
  and 
  others 
  visiting 
  

   simultaneously 
  the 
  same 
  flowers 
  and 
  localities, 
  being 
  always 
  

   attacked 
  by 
  their 
  own 
  peculiar 
  species 
  of 
  parasites, 
  and 
  these 
  re- 
  

   taining 
  unimpaired 
  their 
  consistent 
  associations 
  in 
  one 
  unbroken 
  

   line 
  of 
  descent 
  ? 
  

  

  If, 
  again, 
  it 
  be 
  averred 
  that 
  out 
  of 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  hexapods 
  pro- 
  

   miscuously 
  conveyed 
  to 
  the 
  cells, 
  those 
  only 
  which 
  may 
  prove 
  to 
  

   be 
  of 
  precisely 
  suitable 
  condition 
  and 
  habits 
  obtain 
  an 
  available 
  

   domicile, 
  this 
  would 
  scarcely 
  hold 
  good 
  among 
  nearly-allied 
  

   groups, 
  nor 
  can 
  it 
  be 
  conceived 
  that 
  the 
  hexapods 
  themselves 
  

   should 
  be 
  enabled 
  to 
  discriminate 
  their 
  appropriate 
  abode, 
  where 
  

   no 
  palpable 
  difference 
  may 
  exist 
  in 
  the 
  store, 
  before 
  even 
  the 
  

   larvae 
  upon 
  which 
  they 
  are 
  to 
  subsist 
  are 
  extant 
  in 
  the 
  cells 
  ; 
  

   still 
  less 
  that 
  these 
  hexapods, 
  produced 
  in 
  such 
  myriads, 
  should 
  

   not, 
  that 
  I 
  am 
  aware 
  of, 
  like 
  the 
  yellow 
  hexapods 
  of 
  Meloe, 
  de- 
  

   scribed 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Newport, 
  be 
  frequently 
  met 
  with 
  in 
  profusion 
  

   upon 
  certain 
  flowers, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  upon 
  various 
  Dipterous 
  and 
  Hyme- 
  

   nopterous 
  insects.* 
  

  

  While, 
  therefore, 
  the 
  sterility 
  of 
  the 
  viclims 
  in 
  certain 
  cases 
  

   may 
  be 
  deemed 
  incontestable, 
  the 
  general 
  enunciation 
  of 
  this 
  prin- 
  

   ciple 
  would 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  incompatible 
  with 
  the 
  known 
  conditions 
  

   affecting 
  the 
  perpetuation 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  in 
  the 
  parasites, 
  although 
  

   a 
  large 
  proportion 
  of 
  these 
  must 
  necessarily 
  perish 
  in 
  the 
  hex- 
  

   apod 
  larva 
  state, 
  without 
  obtaining 
  a 
  suitable 
  abode 
  — 
  excessive 
  

   numbers 
  serving 
  to 
  provide, 
  as 
  in 
  many 
  other 
  well-known 
  in- 
  

   stances, 
  a 
  compensating 
  medium 
  in 
  this 
  respect. 
  

  

  Some 
  hexapod 
  larvae 
  of 
  Hijlecthrus 
  having 
  on 
  one 
  occasion 
  

   been 
  placed 
  by 
  me 
  upon 
  a 
  very 
  diminutive 
  Polistes 
  larva, 
  I 
  found 
  

   them 
  attach 
  themselves 
  without 
  hesitation 
  in 
  the 
  usual 
  manner, 
  

   remaining 
  affixed 
  thereto, 
  without, 
  however, 
  succeeding 
  in 
  pene- 
  

   trating, 
  nor 
  did 
  they 
  afterwards 
  abandon 
  the 
  position 
  so 
  taken 
  up. 
  

   If, 
  however, 
  the 
  hexapod 
  larvae 
  of 
  all 
  Strepsipterous 
  insects 
  be 
  

   left, 
  in 
  the 
  ordinary 
  course 
  of 
  events, 
  to 
  chance 
  conveyance 
  by 
  

   any 
  bee 
  or 
  wasp 
  to 
  any 
  cell 
  to 
  be 
  reared, 
  as 
  occasions 
  may 
  offer, 
  

   upon 
  the 
  larvae 
  of 
  any 
  victim 
  answering 
  to 
  certain 
  required 
  con- 
  

   ditions, 
  the 
  manner 
  in 
  which 
  those 
  conditions 
  would 
  often 
  be 
  

   found 
  fulfilled 
  among 
  allied 
  genera 
  and 
  species 
  must 
  lead 
  to 
  in- 
  

   terminable 
  confusion 
  in 
  the 
  distribution 
  of 
  the 
  parasites, 
  instead 
  

  

  * 
  Loc. 
  cit. 
  p. 
  310, 
  et 
  seq. 
  

  

  