154 
COLEOPTERA. 
perforate the corneous covering of the abdomen, and so 
support itself by suction; on the under side of the 
head, at its junction with the body, there was a con¬ 
cavity, but I could observe nothing in this but a 
uniform unbroken surface. As the body of the animal 
is inserted in the body of the Melitta , does that part 
receive its nutriment from it by absorption ? After I had 
examined one specimen I attempted to extract a second, 
and the reader may easily imagine how greatly my as¬ 
tonishment w r as increased, when after I had drawn it 
out but a little way, I saw its skin burst and a head as 
black as ink, with large staring eyes and antennae con¬ 
sisting of two branches, break forth and move itself 
briskly from side to side. It looked like a little imp of 
darkness just emerging from the infernal regions. My 
eagerness to set free from its confinement this extraor¬ 
dinary animal may be easily conjectured. Indeed I was 
impatient to become better acquainted with so singular 
a creature. When it was completely disengaged and 
I had secured it from making its escape, I set myself to 
examine it as accurately as possible, and I found, after 
a careful inquiry, that I had not only got a nondescript, 
but also an insect of a new genus, whose very class 
seemed dubious.” (Kirbys Monographia Apum An - 
glice , ii., p. 110-113). 
The subject has received considerable attention since 
Mr. Kirby’s time, and several species of Stylops have, I 
believe, been described; there are only two genera at 
present known, Stylops and Xenos. The habits of 
Stylops remind one of those of the oil-beetle (Meloe), of 
which I have already spoken in the chapter that treats 
of the Coleoptera, and strange and abnormal as this 
