Strepsiptera
a small and very peculiar and anomalous order of insects.
The females are wingless, and live as STREPSIPTERA parasites in the abdomen of bees, wasps, and other hymenopterous insects. The males have the front pair of wings in the form of twisted filaments, the posterior pair are fan-shaped and membranous. The jaws are rudimentary. The heads of the parasitic females protrude from between the abdominal joints of their host. The strepsiptera are viviparous, and the larvæ are little caterpillars which attach themselves to the bodies of wasps and bees. The female larvæ never leave their hosts; the male larvæ undergo their metamorphosis within the bodies of their hosts, from which in due time they emerge as perfect winged males. Stylops Dalii and S.
Spencii are common species.