. Animal parasites and messmates. Parasites. 256 ANIMAL PARASITES AND MESSMATES. alone sacrifices her liberty, and changes her form entirely in order to secure the preservation of her posterity. The insects called Strepsiptera, which live as parasites on wasps, furnish a curious example of this (Fig. 77). These insects, the Polistes, the Andrense, and the Halicti, do not kill the larvse of the Hymenoptera on which they feed; they suck the blood of their victim slowly, and leave him just enough strength "to go through his meta- morphoses. The females, are condemned to remain almost complet
. Animal parasites and messmates. Parasites. 256 ANIMAL PARASITES AND MESSMATES. alone sacrifices her liberty, and changes her form entirely in order to secure the preservation of her posterity. The insects called Strepsiptera, which live as parasites on wasps, furnish a curious example of this (Fig. 77). These insects, the Polistes, the Andrense, and the Halicti, do not kill the larvse of the Hymenoptera on which they feed; they suck the blood of their victim slowly, and leave him just enough strength "to go through his meta- morphoses. The females, are condemned to remain almost completely immovable on their prey, while the males are winged. Naturalists have paid great attention to these latter insects, as much on account of their mode of life as of the difficulties which they have suggested to entomologists in the appreciation of their natural affinities. Are they coleoptera, as was for a long time, and perhaps correctly, supposed, or do they form 'a distinct order by themselves ? How- ever this may be, these are the facts known concerning them, ac- cording to the recent observations of Mons. Chapmann, a con- scientious naturalist. The females do not lay their eggs in the nests of wasps, but the lame, under the form of meloe, penetrate into the cells, by the assistance of the larvse of the wasps, which carry them hidden between the second and third ring. The. Tig. 77.—Stylops. Male, natural size, and Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Beneden, M. van (Pierre Joseph), 1809-1894. New York, D. Appleton and Co.
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectparasit, bookyear1876
