Sept., 191 1.] Wheeler: An Ant-Nest Coccinellid. 171 



long on the liead and on the projecting lateral border of each seg- 

 ment. These hairs probably help to support or bind together the 

 waxy secretion. 



By May 22 some at least of the larv;e had pupated. This could 

 not be determined by superficial examination, because the larval 

 cuticle was not shed but merely separated from the underlying hypo- 

 dermis, and the pupa was formed within the larval cuticle, which 

 was not even ruptured in the middorsal line. It rested on the soil and 

 retained intact its tufted covering of white wax. 



June 15, on returning from a vacation, I found that the ants and 

 Coccids had died some time during my absence and that a beautiful 

 Coccinellid beetle, spotted with yellow and with iridescent blue-green 

 eyes, had emerged from one of the pupje and was running rapidly 

 about the nest. Four more of these beetles hatched June 16, 17, 20 

 and 22. The pupal period therefore extends over a month and is 

 probably not much shorter than larval life, unless the young larvae 

 hatch in the fall of the year. 



Although it was evident that the beetle was a Brachyacautha, 

 I had difficulty in deciding on its specific identity. I therefore sent 

 it to our acknowledged authority on the Coccinellidae, Mr. Charles 

 Leng, who kindly wrote me as follows : " The Coccinellid beetle is 

 Brachyacautha 4-piiiictata Mels. Melsheimer described the female 

 under this name and later in the same paper described the male as 

 basalis. The male which you send has two spots at the base of the 

 elytra, the female onlv one : she lacks the humeral spot. Crotch re- 

 garded the insect as a variety of ursiiia but Mulsant, Gorham and 

 Casey dissent from this view, and the differences in abdominal struc- 

 ture support their opinion. It will be treated as a distinct species in 

 my forthcoming paper." 



Turning to the literature, I find that the larva of this or of a 

 very closely related Brachyacautha was long ago seen in ant nests 

 by Dr. John B. Smith.' He says: "It would be supposed that the 

 ants would be very careful to keep out all enemies of these their 

 domestic animals (aphids), but there is one species that gets in and 

 remains in undisturbed. It is the larva of a common " lady bird," 

 Brachyacautha ursiiia. Unlike the larvae of Coccinellids that prey 



-Ants' Nests and their Inhabitants. Amer. Natur., XX, 1886, pp. 679- 

 6S7. 



