3 



ON THE ORIGIN AND 



[CHAP. 



leaves, like the caterpillars of Lepidoptera ; thus that 

 of Crioceris Asparagi (Fig. 8) which, as its name 

 denotes, feeds on the asparagus closely resembles 

 the larvae of certain Lepidoptera, as for instance of 

 Thecla spini. From this point of view the trans- 

 formations of the genus Sitaris (PI. III., Fig. 4), which 

 have been very carefully investigated by M. Fabre, 

 are peculiarly interesting. 1 



FIG. 9, Larva of Sitaris humeralis (Fabre, Ann. des Sci. Nat., se'r. 

 4, tome vii.). 10, Larva of Sitaris humerili--, in the second stage, 

 ii, Larva of Sitaris hnmeralis, in the third stage. 12, Larva of Sitaris 

 humeralis, in the fourth stage. 13, Pupa of Sitaris. 



The genus Sitaris (a small beetle allied to Can- 



O N 



tharis, the blister-fly, and to Meloe, the oil-beetle) is 

 parasitic on a kind of Bee (Anthophora),, which ex- 

 cavates subterranean galleries, each leading to a cell. 

 The eggs of the Sitaris, which are deposited at the 

 entrance of these galleries, are hatched at the end of 

 September or beginning of October ; and M. Fabre not 



1 Ann. des Sci. Nat., ser. 4, tome vii. See also Natural History 

 Review, April 1862. 



