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ON BR AULA CAECA, NITZSCH, A DIPTEROUS PARASITE OF 
THE HONEY BEE. 
By S. H. Skaife, M.A., M.Sc. 
(With eleven Text-figures.) 
Introduction. 
Br aula caeca is an aberrant dipteron that is a common parasite of the 
honey bee in this country and other parts of the world. It is a small, 
active insect, reddish-brown in colour, and about 2 mm. in length 
(Fig. 1) . In strong hives these so-called bee lice rarely become abundant, but 
in weak colonies they are sometimes so numerous that hardly a bee is without 
one or more of the parasites. According to Sharp (1) there is only one 
species known, and this species is placed in a separate family by itself, the 
Brauliclae. This family, together with the Hippoboscidae and two small and 
little- known families, the Streblidae and the Nycteribiidae, make up the 
series Pupipara. Braula caeca is linked with the Pupipara, mainly because 
of the statements of Boise, Packard and others concerning its life-history, 
but, as will be shown later, these statements are erroneous. 
Boise states that a pupa is deposited in the cell in the hive by the side 
of the young larva of the bee, and appears as the perfect insect in about 
twenty-one days. Packard says that on the day the larva hatches from the 
egg it sheds its skin and turns to an oval puparium of a dark brown colour. 
Accordiog to Comstock (2) the mode of reproduction of Braula is similar to 
that of the Hippoboscidae. Cowan (3) asserts that the "eggs hatch inside 
the insect and the larvae are nourished by the secretions from a gland. 
The pupa is extruded on to the floor-board of the hive, and fourteen days 
later a perfect insect emerges. The young lice remain on the floor-board 
until they have the opportunity of climbing on to a passing bee." 
The Eggs of Braula caeca. 
Some time ago Mr. R. H. Harris, Assistant Entomologist, called the 
present writer's attention to the fact that certain white specks which are 
often found on the brood combs in the hives are the eggs of some insect or 
