9 2 ROUND THE YEAR 



the greatest uneasiness to the Bee, which struggled 

 in vain to detach them. Newport remarks that all the 

 Hymenoptera on which Meloe larvae have been found 

 burrow in the ground, and all the Flies on which they 

 have been taken are, like Volucella, parasitic in the 

 nests of such Hymenoptera. The statement is too 

 sweeping, for Meloe larvae have been known to attach 

 themselves in mistake or despair to other flying 

 Insects, as will appear later. Newport himself gives 

 us one instance. Having secured three or four hun- 

 dred Meloe larvae in a bottle, he put with them several 

 living Weevils and a single Malachius (a small flower- 

 haunting Beetle). The Weevils were not disturbed, 

 but the larvae instantly attached themselves to the 

 Malachius in such numbers as to cover it and deprive 

 it of the power of moving ; most of them clung on for 

 many hours. 



Newport found pupae and advanced larvae of one 

 species of Meloe among the nests of a particular 

 burrowing Bee (Anthophora), and now the case 

 seemed to be pretty complete. It remained to see the 

 young larva brought to the nest, and to watch its 

 operations on arrival. He took with him in June 

 fresh-hatched larvae of Meloe proscarabceus (the 

 commonest species) and M. violaceus, and placed 

 them in the nests of Anthophora retusa, each cell of 

 which then contained a Bee-maggot and a supply of 

 pollen-paste, its proper food. At first he thought 

 that the experiment was succeeding, for one of the 

 larvae seemed to attack the Bee-maggot with its 

 mandibles. But nothing further happened. He left 

 the intruders in the nest and went away. Next day 



