688 



The Living Animals of the World 



Fliuto III) W. I'. Daiido, F.Z.S.] 



MUSK-BEETLE. 



[Regent's Farlc. 



The odour of;; this "beetle ni:iy often be detected at a distance of twenty 

 or thirty yards. 



that of a tortoise with the limbs i^artly with- 

 drawn into the shell. IMany different species 

 are known, in some of which the wing-cases 

 are streaked with brilliant metallic silver, 

 which, however, fades away very shortly after 

 death. The commonest of the British tor- 

 toise-beetles is found on thistles. 



Another very large group of beetles is 

 represented by the Cellak-beetle, which is 

 genei-ally very common in old houses. This 

 insect must not be confused with the so- 

 cahed " Black-beetle," from which it may 

 easily be distinguished by its deep black 

 colour, its very much shorter feelers, and the 

 curious point into which the end of its body 

 is produced. It hides away in dark corners 

 by dav, and crawls slowly about by night. 

 Related to it is the ^Ieal-worm, so much 

 in request for the food of cage-birds, which 

 is usually very plentiful in granaries. 



Very different in appearance, yet belong- 

 ing to the same group, is the handsome 

 Cardinal Beetle, a bright scarlet insect 

 which is not uncommon in summer. It may 

 sometimes he found lurking behind pieces 

 of loose bark, and is also fond of resting 

 upon the flowers of umbelliferous plants in the hot sunshine. A second species, which is not 

 nearly so plentiful, may be distinguished by the fact that the head is entirely black. 



Still more curious is the Rhipiphorus Beetle, which is parasitic within the nests of 

 wasps. Where the egg is laid, or how the grub first finds its way into the nest, no one has 

 3'et succeeded in discovering ; but having made its entry, the insect proceeds to burrow into 

 the body of a wasp-grub, and lives within it for several days, feeding upon its flesh mean- 

 while. After increasing considerably in size, it creeps out of the carcase of its victim and 

 changes its skin, after which it resumes its inteiTupted meal, and continues to feed until the 

 last vestige of the wasp-grub has been devoured. It then changes to a chrysalis in the 

 -cell, and the perfect insect appears a few days later. Oddly enough, the wasps appear to take 

 no notice of its presence, and never attempt to molest it. The two sexes of this beetle are 

 ■quite unlike one anctlier, the male having the wing-cases yellow and the feelers heavily plumed, 

 Tvhile the female is black, with the feelers only slightly toothed. 



Most singular of all the insects belonging to this order, however, is the strange little 

 Stalk-eyed Beetle, wliich spends the greater part of its life half buried in the body of a bee. 

 In this insect the feelers are brand led, somewhat like the antennules, or lesser feelers, of a 

 lobster, and the eyes, which are comparatively few in number, are set at the ends of short 

 foot-stalks. The male has very narrow wing-eases, but extremely large wings, which have a 

 milky appearance during flight that can hardly be mistaken. The female has no wings at all, 

 and in general aspect is nothing more than a grub. In early spring a great number of 

 solitary bees are infested by this extraordinary })arasite, which burrows into their bodies under 

 cover of the projecting edges of the segments, and there remains feeding upon their internal 

 juices for several weeks, with only just the tip of its tail iirotruding. When fully fed, it 

 emerges from the Ijody of its involuntary host, leaving a large round hole behind it, which 

 frequently closes up and heals. In any case, strange to say, the ravages of the parasite appear 

 to have but little effect upon the health of the bee. 



