i8o SOLITARY BEES AND WASPS. 



and, worse than that, they creep into its body, and 

 there they live and grow, feeding on the inside 

 organs of the bee until they are fully grown, when 

 they turn into chrysalides. 



Kirby, the great naturalist, was, I believe, the dis- 

 coverer of this wicked little insect. He saw a small 

 lump on the under side of an Andraena bee, and on 

 taking it off with a pin he found to his surprise 

 a queer insect with milk-white wings and two 

 staring black eyes peering out of this lump and 

 this was the perfect Stylops, hatched from the 

 body of the poor bee, which, strange to say, was 

 not killed by the parasite, but appeared to suffer 

 pain and irritation when the Stylops came out 

 between the joints of its body. It seems as if 

 almost every bee and wasp has a special enemy 

 created to persecute it. We may sometimes see 

 upon our window-sills in summer a very brilliant 

 little creature called the Ruby-tailed fly. When the 

 sun shines upon it, it looks like an emerald sus- 

 pended from a bright polished ruby with a pair of 

 wings, so brilliant is its metallic colouring. There 

 are five species of this insect, and they all prey 

 upon mason bees and wasps, creeping into their 



