112 BRITISH BEES. 



for it, but all are unsatisfactory. The Order consists of 

 three genera {Stylops,Elenchus, and Halictophagus) found 

 in England, and other parts of Europe ; indeed, the genus 

 Elenchus has been also discovered in the Mauritius. 

 The Continent possesses the genus Xenos, of the same 

 order, and parasitical upon a wasp, neither of which occur 

 with us. 



Mr. Kirby, in studying the bees for his invaluable 

 ' Monographia Apum Anglise,' first came across this 

 extraordinary creature. His description of his discovery 

 is highly interesting. He says, at page 111 of volume ii. 

 of the above work, that having observed a protuberance 

 upon the body of the bee, he was anxious to ascertain 

 whether it might be an Acarus, and goes on : " What was 

 my astonishment when, upon attempting to disengage it 

 with a piuj I drew forth from the body of the bee, a 

 white fleshy larva, a quarter of an inch long, the head of 

 which I had mistaken for an Acarus. How this animal 

 receives its nutriment seems a mystery. Upon examining 

 the head under a strong magnifier, I could not discover 

 any mouth or proboscis with which it might perforate 

 the corneous covering of the abdomen, and so support 

 itself by suction ; on the under side of the head, at its 

 junction with the body there was a concavity, but I 

 could observe nothing in this but a uniform unbroken 

 surface. As the body of the animal is inserted in the 

 body of the bee, does that part receive its nutriment 

 from it by absorption? After I had examined one 

 specimen, I attempted to extract a second, and the 

 reader may imagine how greatly my astonishment was 

 increased, when, after I had drawn it out but a little 

 way, I saw its skin burst, and a head as black as ink, 

 with large staring eyes, and antennse consisting of two 



