ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIE'lY OF LONDON. 347 



Cryptocephalus ocbraceus, Coccinella 11-punctata, Phylan gib- 

 bus, Crypticusquisquilius, Phaleriacadaverina, Helops striatus, 

 Lagria hirta, Anthicus humilis ; and 31 Staphylinites, among 

 which is enumerated Remus sericeus, an insect described by 

 Mr. Holme as new, with these characters ; antennae not geni- 

 culate ; the basal joint longest and stoutest, the two next equal, 

 obconic; the 7 next nearly transverse, equal, the terminal 

 longer, acute : palpi with the basal joints nearly equal, obco- 

 nic ; the terminal rather longer, filiform acuminate at the point : 

 head oblong ovate: eyes lateral, small: prothorax rectangular, 

 elongate, thickly punctate : body depressed : abdomen deeply 

 margined : limbs moderate, without teeth : anterior tarsi mode- 

 rately dilated. The species sericeus is 2| lines in length, dull 

 black with a golden pubescence, and having the mouth and legs 

 reddish. 



13. On the Domestic Habits of a Minute Species of Jnt. 

 By J. Bostock, Esq. M.D. F.R.S. &c. 

 These ants were first found in a cupboard wherein stores 

 were occasionally kept, and on a range of shelves adjoining ; 

 the wall to which the shelves were attached being heated by 

 the fire of the contiguous house. On removing the shelves 

 and cupboard, the ants were found on the woodwork, where 

 let into the wall, in prodigious quantities : they were of two 

 sizes, the large ones only equalling one-sixth of the small in 

 number : there were also abundance of larvae. After the 

 wood-work had been cleared of them, and the cavities refilled 

 with mortar, the ants appeared in great quantities on the floor 

 of the kitchen, near the fire ; the flag-stones being lifted up, the 

 sand below the boards of the floor, and the timbers on which 

 they rested, actually swarmed with the ants and their larvae. 

 Some of the beams seeming to be decayed, and exhibiting 

 symptoms of dry rot, the whole floor was removed, and a new 

 one laid down on tiles imbedded in cement: the fire-range 

 was next examined, and found equally infested by these 

 animals ; it was re-set in cement. By these means, the ants 

 have been nearly, but not altogether destroyed. The result 

 of a careful and extended inquiry tends to show, that this pest 

 is spread over a district extending from Gray's-inn-lane in the 

 east, to Regent-street in the west, and from the commencement 

 of Somers Town to the Strand : they have also occurred in 



