REVIEWS. 237 



Williams exhibited a method of breeding Psocidae and other small 

 insects which feed on fungi, etc. Bee and Plant Fertilisation.- — The 

 Rev. F. 1). Morice exhibited a ? of the solitary bee Aiuhcna lobialis 

 taken near Woking on May 19th, 1915, having attached to the disc of 

 its clypeus a vegetable substance apparently a pollinium of some orchid. 

 Noteworthy Ants. —Mr. Donisthorpo exhil)ited specimens of Anatlietus 

 (■aiiwniiii, Forel, a new species taken by Dr. Cameron at San Roque, 

 December 1914, and ( rciiiastoiiastcr i)tj!ata, F. Smith, taken by Mr. 

 Bryant at Sarawak, December 1913. The latter species has the 

 thorax distended, which acts as a reservoir for honey, in the same way 

 as the distended gasters of the true " Honey Ants." Further obser- 

 vations ON African insects by Dr. G. D. H. Carpenter. — Prof. Poulton 

 said that he had received another consiginent of insects and further 

 letters from Dr. Carpenter, who had added further information to the 

 notes read to the Society on May 5th last. A Family of Acraea 

 joiiNsToNi. — Dr. Eltringham exhibited a family of five examples of 

 Arracii jiilinstdiii, Godui.. bred by the Rev. K. St. A. Rogers at Sagalla, 

 B.F.A., together with the female parent. The latter and four of the 

 offspring were of the form cunfiisa, Rogenh. Living Elater sanguino- 

 LENTUs. — Comm. Walker exhibited living specimens of /•-'. samjiiiiio- 

 lf)ittis, beaten from I 'inns si/lrestris at Brockenhurst on the morning of 

 the meeting. Paper. — ^The following paper was read : — '' What the 

 larva of I.i/<ae)ia avion does during its last instar," by T. A. Chapman, 

 M.D., F.Z.S., F.E.S. 



K^EYIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS. 



British Ants. Their Life History anu Classification. — By H. 

 St. J. K. Donisthorpe, F.Z.S., kc. — Wm. Brendon and Sons, Ltd., 

 Plymouth. Published by subscription. 



Four things, said the ancient Semitic sage, are little upon the Earth, 

 yet are exceeding wise ; and the first of these are the Ants, " a people 

 not strong, yet who prepare their meat in the summer," And from the 

 far-off' days when those words were written, up to the present time, the 

 social Hymenoptera, more especially the Fonnicidac, have excited the 

 admiration and stimulated the curiosity of mankind, because they, 

 moi'e than any other creatures, have displayed the working of instincts, 

 which have seemed comparable with the intelligence of Man himself. 

 And so it has come to pass, that although other orders of the Lisecta 

 appeal perhaps more in variety of form and beauty of coloration to 

 the student of Nature, yet none have secured the interest of the 

 Biologist to the same extent, or in the same manner, as the Hymen- 

 optera ; and it is for this reason that we welcome the appearance of 

 the first book in the English language, devoted, with any approach to 

 scientific accuracy, entirely to our British Ants. 



The entomological public need no introduction to the author of the 

 volume before us —least of all the readers of T/if Kntoiuohxiist'^ Urcanl. 

 Mr. Donisthorpe has long been known by his writings, published here 

 and elsewhere, as our chief lU'itish authority on the {''uniiiridac : and 

 by his careful and patient study, extending now over many years, of 

 various species of ants kept in captivity, to be singularly well fitted to 

 interpret their activities to that increasing number of the public, for 

 whom such things have an interest. 



