en, upon my attempting to disengage it with a pin, I drew
forth from the body of the bee a white fleshy larva, a quarter of an
inch in length, the head of which I had mistaken for an acarus (_bee
louse_)! After I had examined one specimen, I attempted to extract a
second; and the reader may imagine how greatly my astonishment was
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, consisting of two branches, break forth, and move itself
quickly from side to side. It looked like a little imp of darkness just
emerged from the infernal regions. My eagerness to set free from its
confinement this extraordinary 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 got a nondescript, whose very
class seemed dubious."

Mr Newman, in an essay of much value,[230] has shewn that the larvae of
this tribe of insects are born alive, that they attach themselves to the
abdomens of wild bees, nestling among the hair, and that they are thus
introduced into the nest of the bee. Here it is somewhat uncertain how
they are sustained at first, for at this time the bee-grubs are not
hatched; probably they remain without food for some days, or devour a
portion of the pollen and honey stored up. As soon, however, as the
bee-grub is hatched, the Stylops-larva undergoes a metamorphosis, sheds
its six legs, and becomes a footless maggot; it pierces the soft skin of
the bee-grub, and feeds on its juices, till its maturity, as the
Ichneumon on the body of the caterpillar.

When the perfect bee emerges in the following spring, it bears the
full-grown Stylops, protruding from the rings of its abdomen. The latter
is in pupa, all the organs being distinct and separate, but wrapped
together, and inclosed in separate pellicles; very soon, it emerges, as
described by Kirby, and escapes, leaving a great unsightly cavity in the
body of the bee. This is the male: the female never escapes, but lays
its eggs on the bee in which it has been reared, and then dies.

In the spring we frequently see among herbage a great uncouth beetle of
a dark blue-black hue, with short wing-cases and long, heavy body, which
discharges drops of y