oes back to its earlier
form, though the necessity for these transformations escapes us
entirely. Here I am obliged to record the facts and to leave the task
of interpreting them to the future. The larva of the Meloidae,
therefore, undergo four moults before attaining the nymphal state; and
after each moult their characteristics alter most profoundly. During
all these external changes, the internal organization remains
unchangingly the same; and it is only at the moment of the nymph's
appearance that the nervous system becomes concentrated and that the
reproductive organs are developed, absolutely as in the other Beetles.

Thus, to the ordinary metamorphoses which make a Beetle pass
successively through the stages of larva, nymph and perfect insect,
the Meloidae add others which repeatedly transform the larva's
exterior, without introducing any modification of its viscera. This
mode of development, which preludes the customary entomological forms
by the multiple transfigurations of the larva, certainly deserves a
special name: I suggest that of _hypermetamorphosis_.

Let us now recapitulate the more prominent facts of this essay.

The Sitares, the Meloes, the Zonites and apparently other Meloidae,
possibly all of them, are in their earliest infancy parasites of the
harvesting Bees.

The larva of the Meloidae, before reaching the nymphal state, passes
through four forms, which I call the _primary larva_, the _secondary
larva_, the _pseudochrysalis_ and the _tertiary larva_. The passage
from one of these forms to the next is effected by a simple moult,
without any changes in the viscera.

The primary larva is leathery and settles on the Bee's body. Its
object is to get itself carried into a cell filled with honey. On
reaching the cell, it devours the Bee's egg; and its part is played.

The secondary larva is soft and differs completely from the primary
larva in its external characteristics. It feeds upon the honey
contained in the usurped cell.

The pseudochrysalis is a body deprived of all movement and clad in
horny integuments which may be compared with those of the pupae and
chrysalids. On these integuments we see a cephalic mask without
distinct or movable parts, six tubercles indicating the legs and nine
pairs of breathing-holes. In the Sitares the pseudochrysalis is
enclosed in a sort of sealed pouch and in the Zonites in a
tight-fitting bag formed of the skin of the secondary larva. In the
Meloes it is sim