244 The Irish Naturalist. August, 



NOTES ON IRISH HYMENOPTERA. 



BY RKV. W. F. JOHNSON, M.A., F.^.S. 



ACULEATA. 



In looking over my small collection of Aculeates, I found 

 several that I had neglected to record, and others that required 

 determination ; the latter I sent to Mr, E- Saunders, F.R.S., 

 who very kindly examined and named them for me. The 

 following are the species referred to : — 

 Formica fusca, Latr.— Armagh ; Carliugford. 

 Lasius flavus, De Geer. — Greeuore. 

 Myrmlca rubra, i,. 



Race, laevi nod is.— Armagh ; Scotstown, Co. Monaghan. 



Race, ruginodis. — Coolmore, Co. Donegal ; Scotstown, Co. 



Monaghan; Armagh; Carlingford ; Edentubber, Co. Louth. 

 Race, scabrinodis. — Armagh. 

 These three ants are widely distributed through the country, being 

 our commonest species, but, curiously enough, I cannot find any record 

 of them from North Donegal, Derry, or Antrim, though I think we may 

 assume that they occur there. 



Pompilius plumbeus, F.— Enniscrone, Co. Sligo,^ 

 P. nigerrimmus, Scop, {niger, F.). — Rosses Point, I ^\\ W ere taken 



Co Sligo, j on sandhills. 



P. gribbus, F.— Newcastle, Co. Down. j 



Salius fuscus, L. — Tanderagee and Poyntzpass. - 



The four last-mentioned species are very active insects, appearing in 

 sunshine, and hiding when the sun becomes obscured by cloud ; they 

 provision their nests with spiders, which they sting, so as to paralyse 

 them. S. fuscus can give quite a sharp sting, as I found when I caught 

 one in my hand this spring. 



Tachytes pectinipes, L. — Female, Newcastle. Mr. Saunders states 1 

 that " the species of Tachytes, according to Continental authorities, 

 prey on the larvae of Orthoptera, and Smith has taken T. pectinipes at 

 Weybridge, with a small species of grasshopper. Shuckhard, on 

 the other hand, says he has frequently caught it with a small, sandy- 

 coloured caterpillar.'' 

 IYIelllnus arvensis, L. — Tynan, Co. Armagh. 

 Oxybelus uniglumis, L,. — Newcastle, on the sandhills. 

 Odynerus parietum, L. — Armagh 

 O. parietinus, L,.— Rosses Point, Armagh, Poyntzpass, and Wexford. 



The two last species are solitary wasps ; they nest in any suitable 

 cavity, and make their cells of mud, and provision them with cater- 

 pillars. They are slender, yellow-and-black insects, and need to be 

 handled with care, as they can give a severe sting. 



i The Hymenoptera Aculeata of the British Islands, p. 80. 



