PARASITIC-BEETLES. 
115 
parasitic in the bodies or in the nests of bees. Their history -was long 
involved in obscurity, but the development of the larva; of the genus 
Meloe has been satisfactorily elucidated by Newport, Siebold and other 
modern observers. It appears that the parent beetles deposit their 
eggs in the nests of various kinds of bees, but especially those of the 
humble-bees. The young larva; are sometimes found in the nests, but 
usually upon the bodies of the bees, from which they draw their nutri- 
ment. Infested bees, observed in confinement, have been seen to bo- 
comeexhausted by these larva;, thus proving them to be genuine parasites. 
The following are the principal genera : 
A. Elytra much shorter than the abdomen, separate at their tips, and usually lapping one upon the 
other at base Meloe, 14 sp. 
A A. Elytra covering the abdomen. 
B. Head large, front not prolonged beyond the base of the antenna* ; frontal suture wanting : 
Hokia, 3. 
B B. Hoad moderate, front somewhat prolonged, and with a distinct suture. 
C. Mandibles long and acute ; maxillae greatly elongated Nbmognatuus, 28. 
C C. Mandibles short and obtuse ; maxilla* norm an Lytta, 1)9. 
The genus Meloe, Linn., is alluded to by Kirby as apparently forming 
a connecting link between the Coleoptera and the Orthoptera, having 
the head vertical, and the elytra lapping at base, but the resemblance 
is very remote. The inferior or true wings are wanting, and these in- 
sects are found on the ground, where they feed upon herbaceous plants, 
mostly those of the genus Ranunculus. The females become so swollen 
with eggs that they drag their abdomens with difficulty along the 
ground. When captured they exude a yellow oily fluid from the joints 
of their legs, whence they have received the popular name of oil-beetles. 
They vary in length from half an inch to an inch, and are either black 
or of a dark violet-blue color. Our most common species is the Meloe 
mgustacollis, Say, of a violaceous color, the female upwards of three- 
quarters of an inch , in length ; the male is considerably smaller, and has 
the an tenure remarkably swollen and knotted in the middle. 
We have two species of the genus Morin, Fab., both of which are ex- 
tremely rare. They are found in ants’ nests. The H. sanguinipennis, 
Say, is four-tenths of an inch long, black, with light red elytra. 
The genus Nemognatlia, llliger, is remarkable for the elongation of 
the outer lobe of the maxillae into a long setaceous proboscis, very simi- 
lar in appearance to that of the honey-bees in the hymenopterous order. 
These insects are found on flowers, tho honey of which they probably 
extract. Wc have seen a somewhat similar structure to exist in the 
genus Ohauliognatlius, in the family of Telephoridre; but hero the organ 
is soft and elastic, and capable of being retracted within the cavity of 
the mouth. 
