34 INSECT PESTS 



in aneglected run the danger of infection of healthy birds 

 is increased, as either the worms or their eggs may be 

 picked up. (See Plate 6.) 



Intestinal worms of the genus Heterakis also occur, and 

 cause birds to become ravenous about their food whilst 

 still suffering loss of condition. The full development of 

 the intestinal worm takes place within the fowl, and it 

 may be expelled by a dose of Thymol in the form of one 

 grain in a dough pill morning and night. 



Bees are a special study in themselves, and subject in 

 their turn to numbers of parasites and disorders, chief 

 among them being the dreaded Isle of Wight disease, and 

 ->the Foul Brood or Bee Pest. Then come insects 

 proper, which it is our purpose here to examine. These 

 consist of those which prey on the hive and the 

 young, and those which attack the bees themselves. Of 

 the former there is the Honey-comb Moth {Galleria 

 cerella), a dull brown coloured insect measuring about an 

 inch across the wings, and whose larva lives upon the 

 wax of the cells, so spoiling the comb. A drawing is 

 shown of both moth and larva. The same kind of 

 damage is done by the larva of the Oil Beetle {Meloe 

 cicatricosis), but this insect also devours the bee's egg and 

 afterwards feeds upon the bee-bread prepared by the 

 unsuspecting hive-dwellers for their young ones. Reme- 

 dial measures consist mainly of removing and destroy- 

 ing these insects during their larval state, and all 

 bee-keepers watching for them before they get the 

 upper hand. (Seepage 57.) 



The bees themselves have in addition body parasites 

 in their mature state, a minute coleopterous insect whose 

 larva establishes itself between the segments of the bee's 

 abdomen in the manner shown in the sketch. The insect 

 itself {Stylops dalii) is of the form indicated in the larger 

 drawing, an extracted larva being also represented. These 

 parasites were formerly supposed to belong to a special 

 order of their own, called the Strepsiptera, or Twisted- 



