BEES OF GREAT BRITAIN. 47 



the food, and leaves the larva of the bee to perish; but to this 

 I do not assent : it appears so contrary to all natural laws, that 

 I cannot think it even probable : nature I have never observed 

 to be thus wasteful of animal life — such a proceeding is unne- 

 cessary, and therefore unlikely : where a destruction of animal 

 life is observed, it can usually be traced to some reasonable 

 cause, as the destruction of the larvae of certain Le])idoptera, 

 being a check upon their superabundance : a parallel to this 

 does not appear to me to exist in the case of the bees : I am 



^ more inchned to beheve, that when the parasite has depo- 

 sited her egg upon the store of pollen, the industrious bee at 

 once deserts it, and proceeds to construct a fresh burrow; and 

 that the parasites which may be observed constantly entering 

 different burrows, do so in order that they may find the requisite 

 quantity of food, which will usually be much less than that re- 



^ quired for the industrious bee; having found which, they deposit 

 their egg, and the nest is then possibly deserted by its legitimate 



owner. 



The^ Andrenid(B are also subject to the attacks of other ene- 

 mies, if so t!:ey can be called; we have seen that in the first 

 place their food is attacked by Nomadce, we are now to find their 

 larvae attacked by insects belonging to the Order Colco})tera ; 

 these belong to the genus Stylops, which several distinguished 

 entomologists of the present day agree in placing amongst the 

 Ileteromerous parasitic beetles. These insects were placetl in a 

 new order by Mr. Kirby, named Strepsiptera, and as such they 

 are stdl regarded by many entomologists ; we have at present 

 only to do with them as enemies to the bees, and briefly to nar- 

 rate the manner in which the latter are attacked by them. These 

 insects are diminutive in size, the largest known species not ex- 

 ceedmg a quarter of an inch in length ; we are now speaking of 

 the wmged males ; the females are apterous grub-like insects, 

 which never leave the bodies of the bees. If the abdomens of a 

 number oi Andrenidce be examined, it is most probable that the 

 female of Stylops will be found ; her presence is known bv the 

 protrusion of her head and a portion of the thorax between the 

 abdommal segments on their superior surface, resembling the 

 point of a small bud of a brown colour, or rather a flattened 

 scale. I have several times bred the larva? of Stylops in the fol- 

 lowing manner : on finding a bee infested as described, place her 

 in a box 5 or 6 inches square, cover it with gauze, and supply 

 the bee with fresh flowers such as the Andrenidce frequent ; exa- 

 mine the bee every day, and it is most hkely that in eight or ten 

 days she will appear as if her abdomen was covered with dust ; 

 examine it, and in ail probability she will be found to be covered 

 with an innumerable quantity of exceedingly minute annals; 



