COLEOPTERA. 8? 



poeia, is another handsome example of this family, but 

 though occasionally met with in England it is not con- 

 sidered indigenous. 



Some families in this division contain insects of un- 

 usual form and still more remarkable habits. Ripiphorus 

 paradoxus is a humpbacked, long-legged animal, carrying 

 his shoulders very high and his head very low (not- 

 withstanding the feather-like antenna with which it is 

 graced), and dressed in a coat much too small for him, 

 the scanty elytra being narrow, pointed, and shorter 

 than the wings, which are left with but slight protection. 

 This beetle is, in its earlier state, a parasite upon 

 wasps, living in their nests, and preying on the young 

 wasp grubs. 



Another beetle of unusual appearance is the Meloe, or 

 common " oil beetle" (PI. III., fig. 4). This, though 

 differing much in form from the " Spanish fly," is nearly 

 allied to it, and is said to possess similar medicinal pro- 

 perties. It is a large, heavy, awkward, bluish-black 

 beetle, very common on heaths, and on the flowers in 

 hedgerows. The abdomen has a bloated appearance, 

 and the elytra, which are not above half the length of the 

 abdomen, are convex, and overlapping; the wings are 

 wanting. The antenna of the males of some species 

 have a distorted appearance. Like the Ripiphorus, this 

 beetle is parasitic ; but the eggs are laid, not as is sup- 

 posed to be the case with that, in the nests of the 

 victim, but under the surface of the earth. When 

 hatched the young larvee take up their situation 

 on some plant, and availing themselves of the oppor- 

 tunity afforded by the visit of a honey-seeking bee, 

 attach themselves, to her body, and are by her transported 

 to her own home to destroy, first the progeny for which 



