PEOTECTIVB MIMICRY. 227 



as they settle on tlie ground before entering the tunnel that 

 leads to their nest. In India, the bee-eaters are equally fond 

 ■of bees ; but lizards are, according to Mr. Home, " still more 

 ■destructive " ; they lie in wait at the entrance of the hives, 

 a,nd have a disregard for the sting of their prey which is only 

 ■equalled by the common toad. This does not exhaust the list 

 of animals that prey upon bees : the Honey buzzard will eat 

 them, or at any rate the honey, and is therefore, of necessity, 

 regardless of their stings, as is also the bear ; the grey horn- 

 Ibill also eats bees. This persecution of the stinging Hymeno- 

 ptera contrasts with the case of a black and red Australian 

 ispider which Mr. Wallace mentions ; not even a jjredaceous 

 wasp will attempt to carry off the creature " whose bite will 

 kill a dog." 



While the resemblance shown by Volucella homhylans to a 

 Ibee is very striking, Volucella inaiiis is not so much like a 

 wasp ; according to Mr. Poulton this Volucella only lays its 

 leggs in the evening, and at the entrance of the nest ; the 

 danger, therefore, is reduced to a minimum — which is very de- 

 :sirable, if it be true that wasps are more acute than humble 

 bees. M. Kiinckel d'Herculais * relates how the wasps de- 

 tected the Volucella entering their nests ; he suggests that 

 the flies must lay their eggs at the entrance of the nest ; the 

 larvfe enter the nests, as they naturally move away from the 

 light. 



The difficulty of this instance of apparent mimicry is greatly 



increased, by the occurrence of numerous other insects in wasps 



nests. Mr. Newstead t has lately given a list of no less than 



eighteen species of insects which he met with in wasps' nests ; 



.and this list does not include Acari, perhaps parasitic on the 



* " Organisation des Volucelles.'' 



d- Ent.Manthhj Mag., Feb. 1891, p. 39. 



