THE HIVE BEETLE. 139 



The el}i:ra are very boldly coloured, their ground hue being 

 black crossed by two snow-white bands, shajDed as seen in the 

 illustration, and their base is of the same colour as the thorax. 

 The larva, which is shown at Fig. e, is found under the bark of 

 trees, not to eat the wood or bark, but to destroy and feed upon 

 the larvae of wood-boring Beetles. Its colour is dark-pink, 

 spotted in front. The specific name of formicarius is given 

 to this Beetle because it has an ant-like aspect. 



Another species, Clerus apiarius, is represented on Wood- 

 cut XV*. Fig. 2. This is very differently coloured from the 

 preceding species. It has the head and thorax deep-blue, and 

 the elytra red, crossed with three blue bands. The larva of 

 this insect is parasitic on bees, preferring the comb of the hive- 

 bee, in which it is very mischievous, devouring not only one 

 larva, as is generally the case with such parasites, but several 

 in succession, creeping for the purpose from one cell to the 

 other. We may call it the Hive Beetle. 



The name of Clerus was given by Aristotle, in his ' History of 

 Animals,' to a destructive insect that did much harm in bee- 

 hives, and it has therefore been appropriated to these Beetles. 

 It is very likely, however, that the Clerus of Aristotle was 

 really the larva of the Honey-moth {Galleria), too familiar to 

 all bee-keepers. This is the more likely, because the Honey- 

 moth is very common, and the Beetle is always a scarce insect. 

 There is another species, Clerus alvearius, which inhabits the 

 nests of solitary bees, such as those belonging to the genera 

 Osmia and Megacbile. AH the species form cocoons when they 

 are about to pass into the pupal state ; and after they have 

 attained their perfect form, they can walk boldly into the open 

 air, even the stings of the hive-bee being of no avail against 

 the hard armour of the Beetle. 



The reader will remember that the larva of the first example 

 of the Cleridae feeds on those of certain wood-boring Beetles. 

 We now come to one of the insects which furnishes unwilling 

 nourishment to the Clerus. It is represented on Woodcut XIV. 

 Fig. 4, and is called Anohiurn striatum. This Beetle belongs 

 to the family of the Ptinidse, a group of small and very de- 

 structive Beetles. They are cylindrical in shape, covered with 

 very short doAvii, and are able to draw tlieir heads completely? 



