24 THE ENTOMOLOGIST S REOOKD. 



in colour, and had very long hind legs, which they lifted and waved 

 whenever an ant saluted them. The ants treated them with great care, 

 saluting them with rapid jerks of the body, as they do other ants, and 

 never allowing them to wander about unattended. These two Aphides 

 lived in my nest of L. nvjer, where they were received with great 

 excitement, for some weel<s. I never saw the ants feed them, and there 

 was no vegetation of any kind in the nest. Occasionally an aphis 

 wandered outside the nest, and was eventually carried back again by its 

 attendant ant. On September 4th, there was a young aphis in the nest, 

 and the next day another. On September 7th, a third one was born. 

 All three young ones were together in a corner of the nest, and an 

 ant with them. On August 16th, 1896, I found sixteen of these 

 aphides in a nest of L. Niijer, three of which I sent to Sir John Lubbock, 

 and the remainder I put in my nest of L. Niger. I made a note that 

 twelve of these were alive and well in the nest on August 19th. 



Next year, April 24th, I procured several of the common species of 

 aphis, found in nests of L. niger, and gave them to my nest of the same 

 species, but the ants took little notice of them, and did not carry them 

 inside. On July 30th, 1897, 1 found a full-grown aphis of the strange 

 species, and put it outside my nest. The ants carried it inside 

 immediatel)^ These aphides were all found in two nests of L. nigtr 

 only, about eight miles from Oxford. This aphis would be Paracletus 

 ciniiciformis, C. Heyd. 



Tachyporus fasciatus, n.sp., a species of Coleoptera new to Science. 



By G. W. NICHOLSON, M.A., M.D., F.E.S. 



Broad, shining, reddish-testaceous, with the head, breast, the sides and a 

 broad band at base of elytra, and hindbody black. Head and thorax exceed- 

 ingly finely punctured. Antennae long and fine, not thickened towards apex, 

 with base testaceous, darker towards apex, penultimate joints longer than 

 broad, 11th joint half as long again as 10th. Elytra longer than thorax, 

 with disk reddish, side margins to just before apex broadly black ; a slightly 

 zig-zag and not very well defined broad band occupying nearly the basal half 

 of elytra black; where this band joins the marginal black bands it is narrowest, 

 so that here the reddish colour of the disk of elytra extends to nearly the base on 

 each side as a tongue-like projection ; very finely and closely punctured, the 

 punctures bearing a rather obvious black pubescence ; marginal bristles stout and 

 long. Hind-body black, with the apical margins of segments testaceous, finely 

 and closely punctured. Mouth parts and legs testaceous. L. 3J mm. 



This insect in size and shape most closely resembles T. solutus, Er,, 

 but differs from it in the following particulars : — The punctuation of 

 the head, thorax, elytra, and especially of the hindbody is much finer. 

 The antennae, although of the same length, have their penultimate 

 joints considerably narrower. The 11th joint is only half as long 

 again as the 10th, whereas in T. solutus it is nearly twice as long. 

 The elytra, besides presenting the difference in colour, are more 

 obviously pubescent and their marginal bristles are stout and long, 

 whereas in T. solutus they are short and fine. From T. chrysovielinus, 

 L., it differs by its broader form, by the colour of the elytra and by 

 the punctuation, which is distinctly closer and deeper, and by the 

 greater length of the antennae, whose penultimate joints are not 

 quadrate or slightly transverse, as in the latter species. The marginal 

 bristles of the elytra are even stouter and longer than in T. chnjso- 

 III eli nils. 



