266 [November, 



times in the sand with its burden, it invariably started afresh on the same route. 

 Cerceris arenaria — I found, on dragging out the cells of this species, 17 weevils of 

 the common grey kind so common on the heaths. C. ornata — J have always found 

 this taking home a small Haliclns of some kind, but on one occasion to my surprise 

 it brought an Andrena argentata. Ammophila sabulosa stores Noctuid larva? 

 (such as P. piniperda, A. agathina, &c.) ; A. campestris Q-eometrid larvae, but on one 

 occasion I found it with the larva of Noctua tritici. — W. Baknes, Brightwell Villas, 

 New Road, Southern Hill, Reading : October, 1902. 



Ants displaced by Woodlice in Neiv Zealand. — The Rev. A. E. Eaton, in his 

 gentle critique on my note on this subject {ante p. 160) was right in assigning the 

 woodlouse I referred to to Porcellio scaber, Latr., not P. graniger as given by me. 

 Six months before despatching my note to this Magazine I read a short paper on 

 Mopoda vegetans, Dc Geer, before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, N. Z., 

 and had occasion to refer to the destructive Mopod, when Dr. Chilton, P.L.S., the 

 able specialist on New Zealand Crustacea, was good enough to correct the nomen- 

 clature for me ; the error, therefore, was twice repeated. Porcellio scaber has been 

 known in New Zealand for forty years, and many years before there was any direct 

 communication with other countries than England (excepting perhaps during the 

 early whaling times), which induced me to write of it as an English species. Although 

 it is now almost cosmopolitan, the colonists are wont to speak of all invaders of its 

 class in New Zealand as being of English origin. — W. W. Smith, Ashburton, N.Z. : 

 August 2bth, 19U2. 



Formica exsecta in South Devon. — During a short stay in South Devon in 

 August last I paid several visits to Bovey Tracey in quest of Aculeate Ilymenoptera. 

 In previous years I had found this place a very fruitful collecting ground, it having 

 yielded several rare and interesting species with which I was anxious to make 

 further acquaintance. While searching over the heath, on August 11th, I came 

 across an ants' nest constructed of fir needles, pieces of dry grass, &c, very like 

 that of Formica rufa, Linn., but much smaller, being hardly so big as a half gallon 

 measure. The ants were not F. rufa, as they were certainly too red for that species. 

 I took several dozen for further examination, as I could not remember the specific 

 difference between the two species, to one of which it appeared certain that they 

 must belong, viz., F. sanguinea, Ltr., and F. exsecta, Nyl. I was surprised upon 

 examination to be unable to make them anything except F. exsecta, Nyl., a species 

 I had hardly hoped to find, especially in a place so far from the original and only 

 locality in Britain (near Bournemouth) where it used formerly to occur. In 

 June, 1898, however, it was discovered in the New Forest by Mr. R. C. Bradley 

 (/oc. cit. vol. xxxv, p. 14). The species has been keenly but unsuccessfully 

 sought for so long a time that many naturalists had begun to think we had lost 

 this interesting ant from our fauna. I have to thank Mr. Edward Saunders 

 for kindly confirming my identification. — A. H. Hamm, 22, Southfield Road, Oxford : 

 October, 1902. 



Aculeates at Colchester in 1902. — In spite of the cold, wet season, Aculeata 

 have been numerous in this district, and many good species have been obtained. 



