24 ANDREXID.E. 



the abdominal segments on their superior surface, resembling 

 the point of a small bud of a brown colour, or rather a flattened 

 scale. I have several times bred the larvae of Stylops in the 

 following manner: — On finding a bee infested as described, place 

 her in a box 5 or 6 inches square, cover it with gauze, and supply 

 the bee with fresh flowers such as the Andrenidse frequent ; examine 

 the bee every day ; and it is most likely that in eight or ten days she 

 will appear as if her abdomen were covered with dust : examine it, 

 and in all probability she will be found to be covered with an innu- 

 merable quantity of exceedingly minute animals ; these are the larvae 

 of Stylops ; by the aid of a magnifying-glass they may be seen to 

 issue from the transverse aperture on the thorax. \Vhen the bee re- 

 enters the cell or settles upon flowers, these diminutive creatures will 

 of course occasionally be deposited, and by these means, when other 

 bees visit the flowers, they attach themselves to them and are car- 

 ried to their nests. Judging from the multitude of larvae produced 

 by each female Stylops, amounting to many hundreds in each case, 

 and the rarity of the perfect insect, the majority must perish, pro- 

 bably in their larval condition. Prom the fact of seldom more than 

 two Stylops being found to infest the same bee, although as many as 

 four have been found, we may suppose that to be the largest number 

 which infests one larva of an Andrena ; they undergo their changes 

 in the body of the bee, the male, on its final transformation, becoming 

 an active winged insect, the female remaining a mere apod attached 

 for life to the bee which nourished it. A most complete and inter- 

 esting summary of the observations of entomologists on these para- 

 sites will be found in the twentieth volume of the ' Transactions of 

 the Linnean Society,' by Mr. George Newport, who has in this paper 

 entered most minutely into the anatomy, functions, and development 

 of these remarkable parasites, being the most interesting and com- 

 plete essay on the subject yet written. 



There are still other parasites to be noticed which will occasionally 

 be found on the bodies of these bees : one is a small orange-coloured 

 Pedicidus, which is about T \j- of an inch in length ; this is the larva of 

 Meloe . I have several times reared these hexapods from the eggs of that 

 beetle. For the most complete account of their history, reference 

 must be made to the twentieth volume of the ' Linnean Transactions,' 

 which contains Mr. George Newport's most interesting memoir on 

 Meloe cicatricosus. In this paper it is shown that the larva of the 

 beetle feeds on that of Anthophora acervorum ; but it remains to be 

 proved that the larva of an Andrena can serve as food for the larva 

 of Meloe. I am inclined to think this can never be the case, and 

 that the fact of our finding them on these bees is a mere indication 

 of the usual habit of the larvae of attaching themselves to any insect 

 which comes in their way ; for we as constantly find them on Dipt era 

 and flower-visiting Coleoptera as upon the Andrenidae. It has been 

 shown that a larva of Antliopliora will nourish that of Meloe ; but 

 so small a larva as that of Andrena can, I think, scarcely answer 

 that purpose : I have, however, included them, but merely as sup- 

 posed parasites on Andrena. 



