BEETLES. 57 



FAMILY XII. Cantharidce. 



Antennae nine- to eleven- jointed, filiform, slightly thickened at 

 the tips j claws bifid ; elytra soft, long, and narrow, or else much 

 shorter than the abdomen ; larvae often parasitic. 



The present family, though not very extensive, is one of the 

 most interesting of the Heteromem. The first genus included in 

 it is Meloe, Linn., which includes the well-known Oil Beetles. 

 These are bluish-black beetles, measuring from half an inch to an 

 inch and a quarter in length. They have very short, soft elytra, 

 and no wings, and the abdomen is large, soft, and bloated. 

 They are sluggish insects, found among grass and low plants in 

 spring. Their transformations are very remarkable, and re- 

 semble those of Sitaris. The eggs are laid on or in the ground, 

 and when the young larvae hatch, they spread over the plants 

 in the neighbourhood, and attach themselves to the bodies of 

 the insects which visit them. Those which are sufficiently 

 fortunate to be carried into a hive in this Sindbadlike fashion 

 begin by devouring the egg which they find in one of the cells. 

 Then they change into a second form of larva, and feed on the 

 pollen intended for the larva of the bee, and continue their 

 changes. But the life-history of Sitaris Muralis, Forst., is better 

 known. This is a black insect, not apterous, with long, soft, 

 yellowish elytra \ it is about half an inch in length. The female 

 lays her eggs at the entrance of the nests of bees of the genus 

 Antlwphora, Fabr., which burrow in walls, and a month afterwards, 

 shining greenish-black horny larvae, with long antennae and legs, 

 hatch. They remain motionless till spring, when the bees begin 

 to fly about, when they attach themselves to the male bees, which 

 appear before the females ; and when the bees pair, they transfer 

 themselves to the latter. When the bee lays an egg, one of the 

 larvae drops down upon it, and proceeds to devour the contents. 

 When it has finished, in some days' time, it changes into the 

 second larva, which is a soft white bloated maggot, destitute of 

 eyes or antennae, and with very short legs. This feeds for a 

 month on honey, when it turns into a kind of false pupa, which is 

 at first soft, but soon becomes hard and yellowish ; and in this 

 state it passes the winter. Next spring a third form of larva 

 emerges, very similar to the second, which takes no food, but soon 

 changes into the real pupa, from which the perfect insect emerges 

 in about a month. 



