30 i-Juiy, 



*j,f* The fresh addition to the list, is the Formica aliena, Foerster, 

 a species very closely resembling F. nigra, but retained as distinct by 

 Foerster, Mayr, and Eoger ; Nylander does not sink the species, but 

 questions whether the slight differences between it and F. nigra are 

 sufficient to constitute a species. The differences consist in its being 

 always smaller, and usually of a paler colour ; and in the antennae 

 and legs being devoid of the long hairs always found on those parts in 

 F. nigra ; the head of nigra is also wider. As F. aliena does not appear 

 in the winged state before the latter part of August, I only obtained 

 workers ; the species is not at all rare on the sand-hills near Deal. 

 British Museum. 



ON THE OCCURRENCE OF SYSTELLONOTUS TRIGUTTATVS (A HEMIP- 

 TEROUS INSECT) IN COMPANY WITH FORMICA FUSCA. 



BT J. W. DOUGLAS. 



This species, which is not accounted rare throughout Europe, has 

 seldom been found in England. There were one or two in the collections 

 of Mr. Stephens and Mr. Curtis, and Mr. Dale has taken one or two, 

 but all are males ; the female has not been seen in England, and but 

 rarely on the continent, being sub-apterous it has doubtless been over- 

 looked. The males have dark brown elytra, with two broad, snow-white 

 bands across them, sharply defined as if inlaid, like the markings in the 

 fore-wings of some species of Litliocolletis ; the females have only ru- 

 dimentary elytra. 



The beauty of the creature had impressed me, and ever since I 

 began to collect Hemiptera, I have been on the look out for it, searching 

 often under heath, where it is said to occur, but with such want of 

 success that I almost despaired of getting it. However, on the 7th 

 instant, at Weybridge, the sun shining brightly, I turned up a branch 

 of a small plant of broom that was lying close to the bare ground, and 

 I was electrified at the sight of a living beauty. After a diligent search 

 under the small broom bushes I got 50, of which 20 were females. 



In the ground under the bushes, colonies of Formica fusca* had 

 made their burrows, and numbers of the ants were running about, i 

 Systellonotus (male, female, and pupa,) were running with them, and in 

 like manner, in most tortuous courses, never resting for an instant. I 

 had thought that an ant ran quicker than any other insect, but Systel- 

 lonotus ran absolutely faster. Myrmedonia and /S'rtZ(/a may be accounted 

 the Olympic runners of Insectdom, but they would stand no chance in i 



• For the name I am indebted to Frederick Smith, Esq. 



