MYRMECOPHILOUS NOTES FOR 1909. 257 



Description of Plate xvi. 



Fig. 1 & 2. Tubular dwellings of the larva; of Depressaria putridella spun in 

 the leaves of Peucedanum o[fir.inule. 



3. Imago of the same at rest. 



4. Outline of the 6th abdominal segment of larva, showing tubercles. 



5. Outline of dorsum of metathorax. 



6. Pupa X 2. 



7. Pupa X 4. 



8. Outline of thorax of larva showing ichneumon larva in situ. 

 Figs. 1 & 2 natural size, the remainder more or less enlarged. 



(To be concluded.) 



Myrmecophilous Notes for 1909. 



By H. St. J. K. DONISTHOBPE, F.Z.S., F.E.S. 



Formica rufa-pratensis, Forel. — The majority of the wood- 

 ants' nests at Nethy Bridge, in Inverness-shire, belong to this race. 

 The colouring is darker than that of rufa, L., but they have not the 

 hairiness of pratensis, De G. {coiKjerens, Nyl.). Last May I investigated 

 a large number of these nests, which differ also from those of rufa in 

 being more compact, the dome-shaped surface being smoother and 

 flatter. The nest material not being so loose, it is capable of being 

 removed in layers. A point which struck me very much was the way 

 in which many of the nests were being extinguished by the under- 

 growth. Moss starts to grow round the base of the nests, then 

 " bilberry " and heather, which creep upwards all round the hillock, 

 gradually driving the ants to the summit, and eventually extinguishing 

 the colony. Most of the hillocks in the valley covered with dense 

 undergrowth have once been ants' nests. Professor Wheeler, in a 

 paper [Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., xxii., pp. 403-418) " On 

 Relations of Ants to Plants," records similar cases in America 

 and Europe, and is of opinion that the colony eventually dies off. 

 The nests were very backward, hardly any having any lavvte, and 

 some not even eggs, though there were plenty of ? s. Many very 

 small workers (micrergates) were noticed, and pseudogynes occurred in 

 most of the nests, being very abundant in some. This must mean the 

 presence of Atemeles pubicollis, though I was unable to find any, possibly 

 on account of the backward state of the nests. The weather was very 

 cold, and it snowed all the first day I was there, May 14th ! The 

 following species of coleoptera were found in those nests : — Quedius 

 brevis, Oxypoda Jiaeuiorrhoa, Tkiawphila angulata, Nototliecta flavipes, 

 N. anceps, Homalota parallela, and Leptacinus formicetorum. 



Formica sanguinea, Ltr. — In July I went to Bewdley to study the 

 nests of this species. I found it present in great numbers, more so 

 than last year, having spread all over the district. On July 20th I 

 was fortunate enough to witness a " slave-raid," which I have described 

 and which will be published in an early number of the Zoologist. I 

 captured two gynandromorphs on the 20th and 21st, one half ^ half ^ , 

 and the other half ^ half $ , a technical description of which, with 

 a plate, will also be found in the same number of the Zoologist. 

 Some very small, winged males (micraners) were found in some of the 

 nests. 



Formica exsecta, Nyl. — In 1907, Mr. E. A. Butler swept a single 

 ^ of this ant in Parkhurst Forest, Isle of Wight. This was a new 

 locality for it, so, in the spring of 1908, I went dow^n to try and find it 



