118 [May, 



their independent existence and development; Mr. Hn<:li IMain read some 

 notes on tlie metamorplioses of Onthophagus taurus L., illustrated with some 

 remarkable lantern-slides. 



The following papers were read : — " Qynandromorphous Plebeiiis argus L.," 

 by Dr. E. A. Cockayne ; " Butterflies from the Nile," by Mr. H. Mace ; " Types 

 of Oriental Carabidae in the Stettin Museum," by Mr. H. E. Andrewes ; and 

 ''New Genera and Species of Neotropical Curculioiiidae,'" by Dr. G. A. K. 

 iihirshall. 



^ 



NOTES ON SOME AUSTEALIAN ANTS. 



BIOLOGICAL KOTES BY E. B. POULTOX, D.SC, M.A., F.E.S., 



AND NOTES AND DESCRIPTIONS OE NEW FORMS BY 



W. C. CRAWLEY, B.A., F.E.S., F.R.M.S. 



The following paper contains an account of some ants collected 

 during 1914 in West Australia, South Australia, Victoria, and New 

 South Wales. The notes on the habits of each species were made at the 

 time of capture, and Professor Poulton has added further observations 

 from memory. These are indicated by quotation marks and the initials 

 " E. B. P." All captures without the addition of any name or initials 

 were made by Professor Poulton, who contributes the following general 

 notes : — 



" During my brief visit to Australia — July 29th to August 27th, 

 1914, with a few hours at Fremantle on August 31st — I was much 

 struck with the dominant position of the ants in the insect fauna 

 Other insects were scarce, especially the Lej)idoptera ; indeed the only 

 day on which I saw an abundance of varied insect life was August 31st, 

 at Cottesloe Beach, Fremantle, Avhere the 'wattle ' (Acacia spp.) was in 

 bloom and attractive to many species. The important position taken by 

 the ants is shown by the species recorded in the present paper, althougli 

 allowance must be made for the fact that ants are more easily found in a 

 time of scarcity than most insects. But I do not doubt that their pre- 

 douiinance in Australia is real. 



" I noticed when collecting Camjjonotus nigriceps race dimiJidta 

 {infra p- 12-3) under the bark of a prostrate tree-trunk near Healesville, 

 Victoria, that Hemiptera on the bark of an adjacent tree were ant-like 

 in appearance and especially in their movements ; also at the same time 

 small Coleoptera under and in rotten logs and on bark were, when running 

 very ant-like. Mr. E. E. Turner has recorded a unique feature in the 

 mimicr}^ by a fossorial wasp, ApJieJostoma tasmanica Westw., of the 



