1794 Insects. 



the Mouth of Stylops. 5. Anatomy of the Pro- Meso- and Metathorax 

 of Sty lops. 6. Comparative Anatomy of the Pro- Meso- and Metatho- 

 rax of Stylops. 



§ 1. Economy and Metamorphosis of Stylops. 



The egg of Stylops is unknown to naturalists : the inference to be 

 drawn from appearances hereafter to be detailed is that, it is hatched 

 prior to its extrusion, in fact, that the female Stylops is pseudo- vivi- 

 parous or ovo-viviparous. 



The larvae, on their first entrance into life, and they have been ob- 

 served positively in the act of escape from the parent, are excessively 

 minute : they possess a general resemblance in form to the well-known 

 Lepisma saccharina, being stoutest shortly behind the head and taper- 

 ing gradually to the posterior extremity : they are composed of 

 thirteen very distinct segments, and the tapering commences at or af- 

 ter the fourth : the first segment, evidently the head, is flattened, 

 rounded and obtuse ; and the antennae, supposing them present, are 

 so minute as hitherto to have escaped notice : the dorsal surface of 

 this anterior segment or head exhibits two dark, distant spots, which 

 have somewhat the appearance of eyes, but, except from analogy, I 

 find no evidence of their being such : the pro- meso- and metathorax 

 are each furnished with a pair of moderately long legs ; these are 

 usually curved and directed forwards : each of the segments following 

 the metathorax as far as the twelfth inclusive, has, at each posterior 

 angle, two or more minute setae directly backwards, and the last seg- 

 ment or telum is furnished with two larger and very distinct setae, 

 equal to half the body in length, and situated on minute, but distinct 

 papillae. 



The larvae, which are excessively numerous, are found on the abdo- 

 mens of bees, chiefly those of the genus Andrena, nestling among the 

 hairs : in this situation it is very evident that they must accompany 

 the bee in all her wanderings, whether she visit flowers for food or to 

 provision her nest, or whether she occupy herself in the more labo- 

 rious task of preparing the habitation for her young. No doubt or 

 difficulty therefore attends the introduction of the foetal larva of Stylops 

 into the nest of the bee, on whose larvae it is about to become a para- 

 site : but a hiatus certainly occurs at this point of its history ; for it 

 must be recollected that at the time the parent bee is engaged in ex- 

 cavating, constructing, and provisioning its nest for its future pro- 

 geny, there are absolutely no bee -larvae in the nest: the laying of the 



