t the Sitares take thirty-five to forty days to finish
their mess of honey and that the larvae of the Anthophora spend less
than a fortnight over the same meal.

It is in the first half of July that the Sitaris-grubs reach their
full dimensions. At this period the cell usurped by the parasite
contains nothing beyond a full-fed larva and, in a corner, a heap of
reddish droppings. This larva is soft and white, about half an inch in
length and a quarter of an inch wide at its broadest part. Seen from
above as it floats on the honey, it is elliptical in form, tapering
gradually towards the front and more suddenly towards the rear. Its
ventral surface is highly convex; its dorsal surface, on the contrary,
is almost flat. When the larva is floating on the liquid honey, it is
as it were steadied by the excessive development of the ventral
surface immersed in the honey, which enables it to acquire an
equilibrium that is of the greatest importance to its welfare. In
fact, the breathing-holes, arranged without means of protection on
either edge of the almost flat back, are level with the viscous liquid
and would be choked by that sticky glue at the least false movement,
if a suitably ballasted hold did not prevent the larva from heeling
over. Never was corpulent abdomen of greater use: thanks to this
plumpness of the belly the larva is protected from asphyxia.

Its segments number thirteen, including the head. This head is pale,
soft, like the rest of the body, and very small compared with the rest
of the creature. The antennae are excessively short and consist of two
cylindrical joints. I have vainly looked for the eyes with a powerful
magnifying-glass. In its former state, the larva, subject to strange
migrations, obviously needs the sense of sight and is provided with
four ocelli. In its present state, of what use would eyes be to it at
the bottom of a clay cell, where the most absolute darkness prevails?

The labrum is prominent, is not distinctly divided from the head, is
curved in front and edged with pale and very fine bristles. The
mandibles are small, reddish toward the tips, blunt and hollowed out
spoonwise on the inner side. Below the mandibles is a fleshy part
crowned with two very tiny nipples. This is the lower lip with its two
palpi. It is flanked right and left by two other parts, likewise
fleshy, adhering closely to the lip and bearing at the tip a
rudimentary palp consisting of two or three very tiny joints. T