stylops

/ ˈstaɪlɒps /

noun

any insect of the order Strepsiptera, including the genus Stylops, living as a parasite in other insects, esp bees and wasps: the females remain in the body of the host but the males move between hosts

C19: New Latin, from Greek, from stulos a pillar + ōps an eye, from the fact that the male insect has stalked compound eyes

The eyes, the facettes of which are few in number, are placed on a footstalk, whence the name of the genus Stylops.

Packard describes the curious history of the female Stylops, which he found parasitic on one of the bees.

When the perfect bee emerges in the following spring, it bears the full-grown Stylops, protruding from the rings of its abdomen.

I have caught Andrenas with two Stylops in them, flying about as usual and apparently none the worse for their inmates.

The Stylops, being hatched while still in the body of the parent, is, therefore viviparous.

April 24, 2024gallimaufry

[gal-uh-maw-free ]

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