JULY. 193 



mischief was at first supposed to be the work of mice, so 

 completely was the bark stripped from the trees. 



STEEPSIPTERA. STYLOPIDJE. 



STYLOPS. 



Generic Distinctions. Antenna, outer branch flattened and 

 three-jointed. 



STYLOPS DALII. (Plate III.) Body of a deep velvet- 

 black, and yellowish at the sides ; legs brownish ; the wings 

 white and iridescent, about a line and a half in length. This 

 singular tribe of parasitic insects has been found in the bodies 

 of Wild Bees and Wasps, where they live in the larva 

 state. They have been divided into four genera, distin- 

 guished by peculiarities in the antennae. Rossi, an Italian 

 entomologist, seems to have first noticed the insect, and dis- 

 covered its habits ; and Mr. Kirby, having found another 

 species, investigated the subject minutely, and established 

 the order Strepsiptera for their reception. He observed a 

 specimen in the larva state in the body of a Wild Bee, and 

 having drawn it out, found a white fleshy grub, a quarter of 

 an inch in length. On endeavouring to extract another, he 





