The Primary Larva of the Oil-Beetles 



thophorae the entrance to whose cells they 

 guard. I will not describe the young Meloe- 

 larva, which is sufficiently well known, in 

 particular by the description and the diagram 

 furnished by Newport. To enable the 

 reader to understand what follows, I will 

 confine myself to stating that this primary 

 larva is a sort of little yellow louse, long 

 and slender, found in the spring in the down 

 of different Bees. 



How has this tiny creature made its way 

 from the underground lodging where the eggs 

 are hatched to the fleece of a Bee? New- 

 port suspects that the young Oil-beetles, on 

 emerging from their natal burrow, climb 

 upon the neighbouring plants, especially upon 

 the Cichoriceae, and wait, concealed among 

 the petals, until a few Bees chance to plunder 

 the flower, when they promptly fasten on to 

 their fur and allow themselves to be borne 

 away by them. I have more than Newport's 

 suspicions upon this curious point; my per- 

 sonal observations and experiments are ab- 

 solutely convincing. I will relate them as 

 the first phase of the history of the Bee- 

 louse. They date back to the 23rd of May, 

 1858. 



A vertical bank on the road from Car- 

 pentras to Bedoin is this time the scene of 

 89 



