The Primary Larva of the Oil-Beetles 



larvae attempt to pierce the skin of the Bee, 

 or else to nibble at a hair or two, nor do we 

 see them increase in size so long as they are 

 on the Bee's body. To the Meloes, as to 

 the Sitares, the Anthophora serves merely 

 as a vehicle which conveys them to their goal, 

 the victualled cell. 



It remains for us to learn how the Meloe 

 leaves the down of the Bee which has carried 

 it, in order to enter the cell. With larvae 

 collected from the bodies of different Bees, 

 before I was fully acquainted with the tactics 

 of the Sitares, I undertook, as Newport 

 had done before me, certain investigations in- 

 tended to throw light on this leading point 

 in the Oil-beetle's history. My attempts, 

 based upon those which I had made with the 

 Sitares, resulted in the same failure. The 

 tiny creatures, when brought into contact 

 with Anthophora-larvae or -nymphs, paid no 

 attention whatever to their prey; others, 

 placed near cells which were open and full of 

 honey, did not enter them, or at most ven- 

 tured to the edge of the orifice ; others, lastly, 

 put inside the cell, on the dry wall or on the 

 surface of the honey, came out again im- 

 mediately or else got stuck and died. The 

 touch of the honey is as fatal to them as to 

 the young Sitares. 



105 



