MYKMECOPHILOUS NOTES FOR 1912. 67 



or riifa. They are much more active than fasca or any of its forms, 

 running about in a characteristic manner, and possess a distinct 

 aromatic smell. The $ ? also are very distinct having much red 

 about the head and thorax. I found three colonies this year at Wey- 

 bridge, one of which was situated in a bank, and the other two under the 

 turf, by the side of paths. The nests themselves were about a foot under 

 ground and were reached by a very small entrance hole which was very 

 diihcult to find. On July 11th I noticed a ^ run rapidly across the path 

 and disappear into the herbage, and after a second had been seen and 

 secured, the nest was found with considerable diiticulty. When dug up 

 it contained three deiilated ? $ , a large number of S ^ , larvte and 

 pupte. The colony was taken home, and one of the 5 ? , a number of 

 ? S and the larvfe and pupfe were established in an observation nest. 

 The larvte and pupjB have since hatched and all are well to-day. The 

 second colony was discovered on July 18th, but was not dug up till 

 August 11th, when it was hoped the winged forms might be present. 

 This, however, was not the case. A third colony discovered in 

 September contained two deiilated $ ? . I found that the ants in my 

 observation nest accepted ^ ^ from the other colonies, also pupse, 

 which they brought up. 



i*. fiiM-a va.r. pieea, Nyl-'. — On July 23rd, Crawley and I found a 

 colony of this var., which was situated in a clump of sphagnum, at 

 Matley Bog in the New Forest. It consisted of a number of ^ ^ , and 



1. 



EpINOTUM and scale of 1. F. GAGATES 5 . 2. F. PICEA ^ . 



large cocoons which all hatched later and proved to be <? r? , unfor- 

 tunately no $ $ were obtained, dealated or otherwise. This is the 

 form standing in the British list, as the sub-sp. naiiates, Latr. Smith'*' 

 first introduced it as British in 1866 under the name of (/aiiatef!, on a 

 few ^ ^ taken by his son at Bournemouth. Farren*' White redis- 

 covered it at Bournemouth in 1872 and rightly stating it was distinct 

 from ;ia(/ates, he proposed the name of <ilabra for it. Saunders,'-'' how- 

 ever, stated that he did not agree with White that it was distinct from 

 (lai/ates, and retained the latter name in his book'"''. In July, 1905 

 Arnold'*'' found a colony in the New Forest, which is recorded as 



^^ Acta. soc. sc. Fennicae, II., 3, 1846, p. 917. 



24 Ent. A7m., 1886, p. 127. 



25 Ants and Their Ways, 1895, p. 234. 

 2" Ent. Mo. Mag., xx., 1885, p. 16. 



27 Hi/m. Aadeaia, 1896, p. 22. 

 2« Ent. Mo. Mag., 1905, p. 211. 



