3iB STRANGE DWELLINGS. 



points of peculiar interest in the habitations which they make, 

 or in the places wherein they find their abode. 



One of these insects is rather a pretty beetle, termed Clerus 

 alveariiis. In its perfect state it is innocent enough, but in its 

 larval state it is so destructive among the hives, that all bee- 

 keepers will do well to destroy every Clerus that they can catch. 

 It is generally to be found on flowers, licking up their sweet 

 juices by means of a brush-like apparatus attached to the mouth. 

 The wing-cases of most of the species are bright red, barred 

 or spotted with purple. 



The larva is of a beautiful red, and is hatched from an egg 

 placed in the cell occupied by the bee-grub. As soon as it is 

 hatched, it proceeds to feed upon the bee-grub, and devours it 

 Unlike many insects with similar habits, it is not content with 

 a single grub, but proceeds from cell to cell, devouring all their 

 inhabitants. When it has eaten to the full, it conceals itself in 

 the cell, and spins a cocoon of rather small dimensions in com- 

 parison with its own size. In process of time, it is developed 

 into a perfect insect, and then breaks out of its cocoon and 

 leaves the hive, secure from the bees, whose stings cannot 

 penetrate the horny mail in which it is encased. 



There is another beetle which is parasitic upon snails, and 

 which, in its larval and pupal states, is only to be found within 

 those molluscs. Its scientific name is Drilus flavescens, the 

 latter name being given to it in honour of its yellow-tinted 

 wing-cases, which present ■ a pretty contrast with the black 

 thorax. It is a little beetle, scarcely exceeding a quarter of an 

 inch in length, and is remarkable for the beautiful comb-like 

 antennae of the male. As for the female, she is so unlike her 

 mate that she has been described as a different insect. She has 

 no pretensions to beauty, and can scarcely be recognised as a 

 beetle, her form being that of a mere soft-bodied grub. More- 

 over, the size of the two sexes is notably different. The male 

 is, as has already been observed, only about a quarter of an 

 inch long, while the female is not far from an inch in length, 

 and is broader than the length of her mate, antennae included. 



