AUGUST. 221 



COLEOPTERA. MORDELLID^l. 



RIPIPHORUS. 



Generic Distinctions. Antenna deeply pectinated in the male, 

 those of the female serrated; body arched; thorax semicircular; 

 elytra narrow at the tips, not meeting in a straight line, nor covering 

 the wings. 



RJPIPHORUS PARADOXUS, sometimes called Mordella pa- 

 radoxus, resides in the nest of the Wasp, Vespa rufa. Mr. 

 Kirby, in his Bridge water Treatise, says, " Connected with 

 the subject of parasites is a singular history communicated 

 to me by Mr. Hope. In the month of August, 1824, he 

 found more than fifty specimens of a singular little Beetle 

 in a Wasps' nest ; from their being found in cells closed by 

 a kind of operculum, he conjectures that they lay their eggs 

 in the grub of the Wasp, upon which they doubtless feed ; 

 but on opening some of the cells, he was surprised to find, 

 instead of Beetles, several specimens of an Ichneumon ; upon 

 further examination he discovered that these last insects 

 had been pierced in their turn, whilst in the chrysalis state, 

 by a more minute species, of which he found more than 

 twenty specimens flying about in search of their prey. 

 From the above facts, Mr. Hope remarks, we have a con- 

 vincing proof of a superintending Power, which ordains 



