Notices of New Books. 4881 



"There are still other parasites to be noticed, which will occasion- 

 ally be found on the bodies of these bees ; the first to be noticed is a 

 small orange-coloured Pediculus, which is about one-tenth 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 vo- 

 lume of the ' Linnean Transactions,' which contains Mr. George New- 

 port's most interesting memoir on Meloe cicatricosus ; in this paper it 

 is shown that the larva of the beetle feeds on that of Anthophora pili- 

 pes ; but it remains to be proved that the larva of an Andrena can 

 serve as food for the larva of a 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 in attaching 

 themselves to any insect which comes in their way, for we as constantly 

 find them on Diptera and flower-visiting Coleoptera as upon the An- 

 drenidae : — it has been shown that a larva of Anthophora 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 supposed parasites on Andrena. 



" We now come to the last supposed parasite on these bees ; it is 

 found on their bodies, and exactly resembles in form the last-men- 

 tioned, but is of a brown-black colour, and is full twice the size ; they 

 attach themselves to the hairy parts of the bees, as the metathorax, 

 and the sides of the thorax beneath the wings. What these pedi- 

 culi really are is at present involved in complete obscurity; Mr. 

 Kirby regarded them as insects in their perfect condition, naming 

 them Pediculus Melittae. I have frequently observed these creatures 

 in considerable numbers in the flowers of Ranunculus acris, as many 

 as twenty or more in a single flower, about the month of April ; and I 

 think always before the usual time for meeting with the larvae of Me- 

 loe. I have found them on various species of bees, usually on those 

 which are most pubescent, as Andrena fulva, thoracica, and nigro- 

 aenea; also commonly on Melecta armata, Anthophora retusa and pili- 

 pes: this circumstance would appear to confirm, or indicate a con- 

 nexion between the insects, and from analogy we might readily con- 

 clude that this Pediculus must be a parasite on some species of bee ; 

 but we have nothing in support of this supposition, and against it we 

 have the following observations: — Mr. Newport has shown that it can- 

 not be the larva of Meloe cicatricosus, and, as well as myself, has 

 proved that it cannot be that of M. violaceus or of M. Proscarabaeus; 

 and since the only other species of Meloe, the M. variegatus, does 



