The Primary Larva of the Oil-Beetles 



few plants in blossom, of which the most 

 abundant were three composites: Hedypnois 

 polymorpha, Senecio gallicus and Anthemis 

 arvensis. Now it was on a composite, a 

 dandelion, that Newport seemed to remem- 

 ber seeing some young Oil-beetles; and my 

 attention therefore was first of all directed 

 to the plants which I have named. To my 

 great satisfaction, nearly all the flowers of 

 these three plants, especially those of the 

 camomile {Anthemis) were occupied by 

 young Oil-beetles in greater or lesser num- 

 bers. On one head of camomile I counted 

 forty of these tiny insects, cowering motion- 

 less in the centre of the florets. On the other 

 hand, I could not discover any on the flowers 

 of the poppy or of a wild rocket (Diplotaxis 

 muralts) which grew promiscuously among 

 the plants aforesaid. It seems to me, there- 

 fore, that it is only on the composite flowers 

 that the Meloe-larvae await the Bees' ar- 

 rival. 



In addition to this population encamped 

 upon the heads of the composites and re- 

 maining motionless, as though it had achieved 

 its object for the moment, I soon discovered 

 yet another, far more numerous, whose anx- 

 ious activity betrayed a fruitless search. On 

 the ground, in the grass, numberless little 

 91 



