MYRMECOPHILOUS NOTES FOR 1909. 289 



a number of the larv?p in a tin, with mould from the bottom of the 

 nest, and they changed to pupaj and hatched out in June. 



Phyllomyza sp. ? — I took a number of a species with Lasina 

 fiiliiii)tostis, at Darenth Wood, in July and September. Mr. Collin tells 

 me this is the same species I took with L. fnlifiinosus on the Birkdale 

 sand-hills, and is distinct from F. lasiae, Collin, which I have taken 

 with the same ant at Oxshott, and have bred out of my observation- 

 nest of that ant from Wellington College. 



MiLicHTA LUDENs, Wahl. — This fly, which is new to Britain, I took 

 in a nest of Lasiiis fnlviinonHn, at Darenth Wood, on June 6th. 

 Collin has kindly supplied me with the following information about 

 it. It was described by Wahlberg in 1817, as Ijobioptera ludens 

 {Ofrersif/t Kom/l. Vetensk. AkaiL, iv., p. 261, pi. vii., fig. 1). In 1873, 

 Raddatz (Archiv Vereins der Naturgesch. in Mecldenbiuuj, xxvii., p. 102) 

 records that it lives with Lasius fulif/inosus, and that he had taken it 

 with that ant in May and June. 



Ceratopogon myrmecophilus, Egger. — Collin and I caaght several 

 3 s flying over a nest of Fonnica riifa, at Weybridge, on July 5th, and 

 I netted others over a nest of the same ant at Darenth Wood, on 

 September 24th. 



LiMosiNA cuRTivENTRis, Stuh. — This species was again found with 

 Lasius ftili(fi)iosiis, this time at Darenth Wood, in September. 



LiMosiNA sp. ? — A S and $ taken with L. fidujinosus, at Darenth 

 Wood, September 26th. Collin writes of them, " A most interesting 

 little Limoaina, new to me ; unfortunately the male is headless, but 

 the abdomen is so remarkable I think it might safely be described." 

 I unfortunately broke the S when pinning it. 



Phora formicarum, Verrall. — I have at last succeeded in taking 

 this little species. I found it rather commonly at Bewdley Forest, 

 in July, with Lasias )iif/er, F^. fiaviis and Fonnica sawiuinea. The little 

 fly hovers over the ants, flying very steadily, and getting nearer and 

 nearer to an ant, which it strikes at. I found they would strike at 

 ants on my hands, when I kept quite still. It was amusing to watch 

 an ant which had become aware of the presence of the fly, make a 

 dash for safety pursued by the fly. I subsequently took it over a L. 

 niijer nest, at St. Helens, in the Isle of Wight, in August. I have also 

 seen it hovering over L. ftdiginosus at Wellington College and Darenth 

 Wood. 



Phora ^qualis, Wood. — Taken in some numbers in a nest of 

 Lasias fulii/inosus at Darenth Wood, on September 24th, 



Phora sp. ? — I twice captured a very small Phora, with long 

 posterior legs, in the same nest as the last species. Collin writes, 

 " Dr. Wood does not recognise it, he says it is remarkable in having a 

 very long costa and long costal fringe." 



Trineura aterrima, F. — ■$ and $ taken with L. fuliginosas, 

 Darenth Wood, June 6th. 



MicRODON DEvius, L. — I netted a specimen of this beautiful fly at 

 Cothill, near Oxford, on June 80th. The larvse should be searched 

 for in nests of Formica fnsca, etc. 



Araneina. — Thyreosthenius BiovATA, Caiiib. — This species was 

 found in F. riifa nests at Parkhurst Forest, Isle of Wight, in April, 

 Buddon Wood, Leicestershire, and Nethy Bridge, Inverness-shire, and 

 in plenty, ^ s and ? s, and very young, with F. rnfa-pratensis, at 



