418 



Crouton) of Natural 



it rifles by means of its slender brush-like 

 tongue, it feeds on various kinds of insects. 

 The nest is placed on a low shrub near the 

 ground ; it is of a circular form, outwardly 

 constructed of the inner rind of the stringy 

 bark gum-tree, generally lined with fine 

 grasses. The male has a black stripe pass- 

 ing from the base of the bill through the 

 eye, and a lunar-shaped black mark down 

 each side of the breast ; a narrow stripe 

 above the eye and one behind the lunar 

 marks on the breast white ; all the upper 



this place than to refer to the articles on the 

 various species of Bees, which will be found, 

 at considerable length, arranged according 

 to their respective alphabetical situations. 



MELOE, OIL, or MAY-BEETLE. A 



genus of Coleopterous insects belonging to the 

 Cantharidce ; " now confined," as Mr. West- 

 wood informs us, " to those apterous species, 

 which have the body large and distended, 

 with the elytra short, oval, and lapping over 

 each other at the base of the suture. These 

 insects crawl slowly along upon the ground, 

 or amongst low herbage, upon which they 

 feed, especially relishing the wild butter- 

 cups (Ranunculus bulbosus and It. acrw)- 



(MBL1PHA3A AUSTRALASIAN*.) 



surface dusky black ; wings blackish brown, ! 

 the primaries and secondaries margined ex- ! 

 ternally with golden yellow ; tail feathers 

 brownish black, fringed with golden yellow 

 at the base, the two lateral feathers having 

 a long oval spot of white on their inner . 

 webs at the tip ; throat and chest white, I 

 flanks and under tail-coverts sooty gray : 

 bill and feet black. The female is of a 

 nearly dusky brown above and beneath ; 

 and has only a faint tinge of the golden 

 yellow on the wings and tail. 



MELLIFERA. A very extensive and 

 interesting group of acnleated Hymenoptera, 

 comprising the various species of Bees, which, 

 from their peculiar construction and admi- 

 rable economy, may be considered as the 

 types of the order. These insects are cha- 

 racterized by having the basal joint of the 

 posterior tarsi dilated into an oblong or sub- 

 triangular plate, which is hirsute on the 

 inside, and provided with instruments for 

 collecting and carrying pollen ; the jaws are 

 strong, and varied in the different species ; 

 the maxillae and labium are elongated, and 

 often transformed into a proboscis capable 

 of being folded up many times beneath the 

 head. The larvae feed exclusively upon 

 pollen or honey. Some of the species live in 

 society, residing in dwellings of such regular 

 construction, that the beauties of insect 

 architecture may be said to rival the skill 

 of the mechanic, while insect industry, order 

 and good government may well command 

 the admiration of mankind, and furnish 

 them with lessons worthy of their imitation. 

 It is not necessary, however, to do more in 



Mr. Jeffreys also found them very abundant 

 on Arum maculatum, near Cromlyn Bur- 

 rows. When alarmed, they emit from the 

 joints of the legs an oily yellowish liquor, 

 whence they have obtained the name of Oil 

 Beetles. In some parts of Spain they are 

 used instead of the blister-fly, or are mixed 

 with it. They are also said by Latreille to 

 be employed by farriers ; and Hoppe tells us 

 that they were, when he wrote (179,5) in 

 use as a specific against hydrophobia in 

 Germany ; and the oil which is expressed 

 from these insects is used in Sweden with 

 the greatest success, in the cure of rheuma- 

 tism, by bathing the affected part. (Drury's 

 Insects ) General Hard wick has also de- 

 scribed a species of Melol ! , found in all parts 

 of Bengal, Bahar, and Oude, possessing all 

 the properties of the Spanish blistering-fly. 

 From the medicinal properties of these in- 

 sects, Latreille has surmised in his ingenious 

 memoirs upon the Buprestis of the ancients, 

 that that noxious animal must have been a 

 Meloe. M. Blot, however, contends, on the 

 contrary, that the Meloe is not serviceable 

 in medicine. The preparatory states of these 

 insects have been the subject of much con- 

 troversy. According to Gocdart, Linnajus, 

 Frisch, and De Geer, the females burrow into 

 the earth, and there deposit a large mass of 

 yellow eggs, agglutinated together, which 

 produce minute larvae of a long narrow flat- 

 tened form, with thirteen jointed bodies, six 

 short legs, and two long anal setae. They 

 are exceedingly active in their movements, 

 attaching themselves to flies, bees, &c., which 

 it is said that they suck." Mr. Newport has 

 lately proved the accuracy of these state- 

 ments in most particulars, and in his admi- 

 rable memoir on the Natural History of the 

 Oil Beetle, in the twentieth volume of the 

 Transactions of the Linnaean Society, has 

 settled this hitherto much " vexed question," 

 and traced the Meloe from the egg to the 

 perfect insect. [See OIL BEETLE.] 



