25-1 i-^P"!' 



The Souse- Ant at StocJcport.—l enclose you specimens of a species of ant, which 

 just now is a great pest on the premises of a friend, a shopkeeper and baker. They 

 made their appearance about seven or eight months ago, having troubled his neigh- 

 bours previously and then migrated ; with him, however, they appear to have taken 

 permanent lodgings. A short time ago he found a piece of wasp-cake had been 

 eaten up ; so the next supply was suspended by a string from a hook in the ceiling, 

 in a place where they had not been previously noticed ; in half an hour's time, 

 however, it was quite covered, and, considering their small size, there must have been 

 thousands of them. On their first appearance they took possession of the whole 

 place, but have now settled down to the neighbourhood of the bakehouse, swarming 

 over everything, issuing from cracks near the oven in troops of hundreds and 

 thousands, and quickly covering everything in the shape of sweets or animal food 

 left for a few moments. I should be glad to know if they are usually found in this 

 country, and to have any hints as to their clearance. — S. H. GtAskell, 147, Brin- 

 nington, Stockport : February l^th, 1877. 



[Your insects are the IIouse-Ant {Dlplorhoptnim domesticum),iio-w very common 

 all over London, and doubtless also in other large cities and towns. The nests are 

 usually under the flooring, and this adds considerably to the difficulty in getting rid 

 of the pests. The most feasible plan is to note the place whence they emerge on 

 their predatory expeditious, and then to pour in boiling water, tar-water, solutions of 

 carbolic acid, or of other destructive agents, repeating the operation frequently. 

 Perseverance in this may have the desh-ed effect.— Eds.] 



Squirrel versus Hornet. — When on a collecting ramble, in July last, about the 

 jungly ground at Pultah, near Earrackpore, I was much amused by the conduct of 

 some three or four squirrels (Sciurus palmarum) which had taken up their position 

 in the crowns of two date-palm trees ; the trunks of these trees, just below the crown, 

 had been cut all round in notches by the natives for the collection of the juice 

 (Talar-Ros) in little earthenware pots (Ghuras) ; these pots had been taken 

 away, but there was still sufficient juice to attract large swarms of the common 

 Indian hornet (Vespa einctaj, so that all the cut or bare portions of the trunks were 

 covered by dense buzzing struggling masses of these insects ; but the squirrels did 

 not mind the hornets in the least, and every few seconds would descend upon them, 

 brush and clear them away with their front paws, and then enjoy their fill of the 

 sweets, then up again into the crowns of the trees, their places being instantly filled 

 by the black mass of hornets ; down would come the squirrels again, and again the 

 hornets had to clear out, and this continued for over half-an-hour, when I grew tired 

 and left. The squirrels behaved in the most business-like and systematic manner, — 

 a pass or two with their front paws and a whisk of their tail aud the hornets were 

 cleared out, and hovered in clouds round the trees, waiting till their turn should 

 come again. The hornets never made the slightest attempt at resistance but accepted 

 the treatment by the squirrels as simply inevitable, and this is the more curious on 

 account of V. cineta being anything but an easy-tempered fellow, as any one who 

 has ever molested a nest of this species will know well, for they will attack and 

 follow you up with the greatest persistence, and Europeans, natives, horses, and even 

 elephants can be severely punished by then- stings. I have noticed V. cineta to be 

 especially fond of small species of "skipper" butterfics, about the size of if. st/lvanus ; 



