THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 265 



THREE MYRMECOPHILUS MITES. 



BY NATHAN BANKS, WASHINGTON, D. C. 



Many American entomologists have, doubtless, been much interested 

 in the accounts published during the past year by Charles Janet on the 

 relations of certain Myrmecophilus Acarians and their hosts. His very 

 interesting papers have been noticed in various English and American 

 journals. Particular attention was paid to two species of Eamasidte, 

 Discopoma comata and Antennophorus Uhlmanni. 



A few years ago, while collecting mites on Long Island, New York, I 

 obtained three species of Eamasidte, which were always associated with 

 certain ants. One, a species of Discopoma, is attached to the body of 

 the ant, and appears to obtain food from it in the same manner as its 

 European relative, by piercing the skin. But while the European species 

 appears to choose the abdomen, the American form is, at least generally, 

 found attached to the thorax of the host ; and I have not observed 

 more than two mites attached to one ant. There is usually but one mite 

 fastened to the dorsum of the thorax near the median line. In some 

 nests the mites were found on about lo per cent, of the ants, but in other 

 nests they were much more scarce. 



Of the other two mites, one, the Uropoda, was found in considerable 

 numbers associated with the same ant as the Discopoma, but they were 

 not attached to the ants. The other was observed only a few times in 

 the nests of another ant. 



The ants have been kindly determined for me by Mr. T. Pergande. 

 Holostaspis nicest us, n. sp. 



Body one and one-half times longer than broad, broadly rounded 

 behind, sides subparallel, narrowed in front on cephalic part, and nar- 

 rowly rounded in front, quite convex above. Body above with four rows 

 each side of clavate hairs ; two lateral rows of about nine hairs, 

 which start from the shoulders ; the third row has about ten 

 hairs, one on the cephalic part of body ; the sub-median row 

 has about twelve hairs, and starts from the anterior edge of head. 

 On the soft posterior sides is a row of a few small clavate hairs ; soft 

 parts of venter with a few simple hairs, and some on the margins of the 

 sternal and genital plates. Anal plate nearly circular, and almost its 

 diameter from the hind border of the ventral plate. Legs of moderate 

 length, clothed with a it'N clavate hairs on basal joints, and more and 

 simple ones gn the apical joints, Length, i. mm, 



