CANTHARIDAE 



273 



to any hairy object that may come near them, and thus a certain 

 number of them get on to the bodies of the Antli ophora and are 

 carried to its nest. They attach themselves with equal readiness 

 to any other hairy Insect, and it is probable that very large 

 numbers perish iu consequence of attaching themselves to the 

 wrung Insects. The bee in question is a species that nests in 

 the ground and forms cells, iu each of which it places honey and 

 lays an egg, finally closing the receptacle. It is worthy of 

 remark that in the case of the Aiithophora observed by M. 

 Fabre, the male appears about a month before the feniale, and it 

 is probable that the vast majority of the predatory larvae attach 

 themselves to the male, but afterwards seize a favourable 

 opportunity, transfer themselves to -the female, and so get 

 carried to the cells of the bee. "When she deposits an egg on 

 the honey, the triungulin glides from the body of the bee on to 

 the egg, and remains perched thereon as on a raft, floating on 

 the honey, and is then shut in by the bee closing the cell. This 

 remarkable act of slipping on to the egg cannot be actually 

 witnessed, but the experiments and observations of the French 

 naturalist leave little room for doubt as to the matter really 

 happening in the way described. The egg of the bee forms the 

 first nutriment of the tiny triungulin, which spends about eight 

 days in consuming its contents ; never quitting it, because contact 

 with the surrounding honey is death to the little creature, which 

 is entirely unfitted for living thereon. After this the triungulin 

 undergoes a moult and appears as a very different creature^ being 

 now a sort of vesicle with the spiracles placed near the upper part ; 

 so that it is admirably fitted for floating on the honey (Vol. A', 

 Fig. 86, 10). In about forty days, that is, towards the middle 

 of July, the honey is consumed, and the vesicular larva after a 

 few days of repose changes to a pseudo-pupa (11 of the fig. 

 cited) within the larval skin. After remaining in this state for 

 about a month, some of the specimens go through the subsequent 

 changes, and appear as perfect Insects in August or September. 

 The majority delay this subsequent metamorphosis till the follow- 

 ing spring, wintering as pseudo-pupae and continuing the series 

 of changes in June of the following year ; at that time the pseudo- 

 pupa returns to a larval form ( 1 2 of the fig. cited), differing com- 

 paratively little from the second instar. The skin, though detached, 

 is again not shed, so that this ultimate larva is enclosed in two 



VOL. VI T- 



