Australian and Tasmanian Coleoptera. 1 1 7 



As instancini:- the aliundaiice that insects sometimes occur 

 with ants, the following extracts from Mr. Davey's letters 

 should be of interest : — 



" It came on to heavy rain as soon as I arrived at Ocean 

 Grove, ])ut I made for some good, old-established nests of Irids 

 (Iridnynyrmex nitidits) among cranberries, and shook a few 

 handfuls, ants and all. into a small bag, and went through this. 

 The debris yielded 16 Stapliylinidae (Dabra termitophila var. 

 vicforieiisls, D. nx/rniecopJiila, a minute Homalota and a 

 minute HymenopteronX), 60 Nepharis (N . costata), 16 Psela- 

 phidae (Ar-ficeriis cyJindricoriiis and Euplectops gihhosus), 2 

 Anthicidae {Anthicus austraJis), 2 Curculios (AcJiopera lachry- 

 mosa, and a minute species of Erirhinides'^), 1 larva (of ?), 1 

 Oligotoma (also in the larval form), and Acarids. The cran- 

 berry was badly infested with scale insects, and the ants roof 

 these over, and I always thought would prove good collecting. 

 One great advantage is no waste of time — just bag them and 

 go through them at night. Tbe disadvantage is the swarms 

 of ants you have to bag." Later Mr. Davey wrote : — " The 

 name of the cranberry is Styphelia humifusa, and I have seen 

 plenty of Nepharis on the stems, when the plant is roofed in 

 by Irids, but they are difficult to take there, but by shaking 

 into a bag I certainly got more than I expected, and hope to 

 try the bag again before long." 



Some of the species here recorded are certainly not ants'-nest 

 beetles in the ordinary sense, but having been taken in nests 

 they are included, as with long records such species may be 

 frequently recorded as being found there, and their presence 

 not at all accidental.'* At the same time it appears probable 

 that certain specimens were really dragged into ants' nests 



1 The minute size and narrow body of this insect no doubt deceived Mr. Davey on his 

 preliminary exauiination, and in fact until carefuUi' examined it is like many of the smaller 

 Staphylinidae. Its wings, too small for fliprht, are folded much as in the species of Thrips. 



2 Neither of these is a true ants'-nest beetle ; the Achopcra may be taken in abundance 

 under bark aiid on rottinj^ wood in all the Australian States: it was probably swept into 

 the bag from the cranberry foliage, as also the other minute weevil. The latter, in jjeixral 

 appearance, is like a very small /iagoxi!<, but with nuich shorter and wider tarsi, although 

 not quite as in yiphoboiu.i deceptor. 



3 In this connection see H. St. .J. Donisthorpe in Trans. Ent. Soc. London, 1909, p. 397. 

 He also refers to it as to a well-known fact that many ants'-nest beetles are to be found in 

 the nests of birds, hedgehogs, moles, etc. 



