36 THB BEE-KEBPBR'S GUIDE ; 



This is known as mimicry, and sometimes is -wonderfully 

 striking between very distant g-roups. Darwin and Wallace 

 have shown this to be a developed peculiarity, not always pos- 

 sessed by the ancestors of the animal, and that it comes 

 throug-h the laws of variation and natural selection to serve 

 the purpose of protection. Right here we have a fine illustra- 

 tion of this mimicry. Just the other day I received, through 

 Mr. A. I. Root, an insect which he and the person sending it 

 to him supposed to be a bee, and he desired to know whether 

 it was a malformed honey-bee, or some other species. This 

 insect, though looking in a general way much like a bee, had 

 only two wings, had no jaws, and its antennas were close to- 

 gether in front, and mere stubs. In fact, it was no bee at all, 

 but belonged to the order Diptera, or two-winged flies. I have 

 received several similar insects, with like inquiries. Among 

 Diptera there are several families, as the OSstrids, or bot-flies, 

 some of the Asilidae, or robber-flies (Fig. 268), which are often 

 fierce enemies of our bees, the Syrphid^ — a very usef uLfam- 

 ily, as the larvae or maggots often live on plant-lice — whose 

 members are often seen sipping sweets from flowers, or trying 

 to rob the honey from other bees — the one referred to above 

 belonged to this family — and the BombyliidK, which in color, 

 form, and hairy covering, are strikingly like wild and domes- 

 ticated bees. The maggots of some of these feed on the larvaa 

 of various of our wild bees, and of course the mother fly must 

 steal into the nests of the latter to lay her eggs. So in these 

 cases there is seeming evidence that the mimicry may serve to 

 protect these fly-tramps as they steal in to pilfer the coveted 

 sweets, or lay the fatal eggs. Possibly, too, they may have a 

 protective scent, as they have been seen to enter a hive in 

 safety, though a bumble-bee essaying to do the same found 

 the way barricaded with myriad simitars, each with a poisoned 

 tip. 



Some authors have placed Coleoptera, or beetles, as the 

 highest of insects, others claim for Lepidoptera, or butter-flies 

 and moths, a first place, while others, and with the best of 

 reasons, claim for Hymenoptera the highest position. The 

 larger brain, wondrous habits, and marvelous differentiation 

 of mouth-organs, legs, etc., more than warrant placing them 



