Parasitic Beetles. 415 



bably after a winter's interval) a third form of the larva 

 appears, similar to the second. Here, however, ceases all 

 direct record of the extraordinary metamorphoses of this 

 insect; the most unaccountable part, viz., the passage of the 

 heavy, full-grown, bloated beetles from the bees' nest to the 

 commons where they are usually found, not having been 

 hitherto observed. 



The transformations, however, of Sitaris muralis, the 

 third above-mentioned bee-parasite, throw some light upon 

 the final changes of its ally Meloe. This insect, which, unlike 

 the latter, has ample wings, though its elytra are of imperfect 

 development, is, during all its existence, parasitic upon mason- 

 bees of the genus Anthophora, which are common in old brick- 

 walls. Here the larvas undergo fewer vicissitudes than those 

 of Meloe, as the eggs are deposited by the parent at the 

 entrance of the bees' burrow, near which it stays ; and the 

 young larvae, after passing through the above-mentioned stages, 

 and taking no food in their third condition, change to the 

 ordinary Coleopterous pupa, from which the imago is produced 

 after about a month's interval ; the whole metamorphoses 

 covering a space of about two years. 



Mr. Newport has given particulars of his discoveries as to 

 this species in the Linncean Transactions, vol. xx., p. 297, and 

 vol. xxi., p. 167. M. Fabre, also, in his " Memoire sur 

 l'Hypermeta,morphose et les mceurs des Meloides," in the 

 Annates des Sciences Naiurelles, ser. 4, vol. vii., 1857, p. 299, 

 a;oes into considerable detail with reference to the abnormal 

 nature of the above-mentioned changes. 



In connection with these beetles, mention must be made of 

 certain interesting insects variously considered as a separate 

 order, under the name of Strepsiptera, or simply as a family of 

 the Goleoptera, under the name Stylopides. As there exist strong 

 reasons to suppose that the latter view is incorrect, and as the 

 details of their structure and habits are too voluminous and 

 interesting to be hurried over in a paper of this kind, it may 

 be sufficient to remark that they are parasites chiefly upon the 

 females of certain Andrenidce, a family of wild bees ; the female 

 Stylops remaining enclosed between the abdominal rings of 

 the Andrcena during all her stages, and the male until his 

 perfect condition ; when he acquires wings, exhibits great 

 activity in his search for the other sex (which is, of course, 

 carried about in its living prison), and dies within a day of 

 arriving at maturity. Our countryman, Kirby, was the dis- 

 coverer of these marvellous insects. 



Of other — and undoubtedly Coleopterous — bee-parasites, 

 Leptinns testaceus, a species of considerable rarity in this country 

 (I once found it in a nest of the large black wood- ant, Formica 



