44 ON PLANTS AND INSECTS. [LECT. 



which are deposited at the entrance of the galleries, are 

 hatched at the end of September or beginning of Octo- 

 ber, and M. Fabre not unnaturally expected that the 

 young larvae, which are active little creatures with six 

 serviceable legs, would at once eat their way into the 

 cells of the anthophora. No such thing : till the month 

 of April following they remained without leaving their 

 birth-place, and consequently without food ; nor did 

 they in this long time change either in form or size. 

 M. Fabre ascertained this, not only by examining the 

 burrow of the anthophoras, but also by direct observa- 

 tions of some young larvae kept in captivity. In April, 

 however, his captives at last awoke from their long 

 lethargy, and hurried anxiously about their prisons. 

 Naturally inferring that they were in search of food, 

 M. Fabre supposed that this would consist either of the 

 larvae or pupae of the anthophora, or of the honey with 

 which it stores its cell. All three were tried without 

 success. The first two were neglected, and the larvae, when 

 placed on the latter, either hurried away or perished 

 in the attempt, being evidently unable to deal with the 

 sticky substance. M. Fabre was in despair : " Jamais 

 experience/' he says, " n'a eprouve pareille deconfiture. 

 Larves, nymphes, cellules, miel, je vous ai tous offert ; 

 que voulez-vous, done, bestioles maudites ? " The first 

 ray of light came to him from our countryman, Newport, 

 who ascertained that a small parasite found by Le*on 

 Dufour on one of the wild bees was, in fact, the larva 

 of the oil-beetle. The larvae of sitaris much resembled 

 Dufour's larvae. Acting on this hint, M. Fabre ex- 

 amined many specimens of anthophora, and found on 

 them at last the larvae of his sitaris. The males of 



