210 r September, 



occurs in England, and has several times been taken by myself, and 

 sent to me for determination by correspondents. 



(b) The application of the name caprets by different authors to 

 different species has caused terrible confusion. Konow formerly 

 applied it to what he now calls irisignatus, but has now come to the 

 conclusion that the original caprecB, L., was the Pferonus described 

 under that name in my last paper. 



(To be continued). 



FORMICOXENUS NITFDULUS, Ntl., ^, AS BRITISH. 



BT RICHARD S. BAGNALL, F. K.S. 



Until recently, when the writer had tlie good fortune of finding this interesting 

 species in some numbers in the hills of Formica rufa, L., at Corbridge-on-Tyne, 

 Northumberland (p. 140), Forniicoxemis nitidulua, Nyl., was regarded as a very 

 rare British ant, and only ? and ^ had been taken in Britain. In eai'ly June 

 Mr. Donisthorpe and the writer spent a whole day with the Corbridge wood -ants, 

 and, again finding Formicoxenus in some profusion, we each took a large series in 

 the hopes of finding the male; but, excepting a few apterous queens, they all proved 

 to be workers. 



Yesterday, despite the stormy weather, several hours were spent in once more 

 investigating the rufa hills at Corbridge, this time (without success, we may add) 

 in search of the winged ? . In fact, our little friend was decidedly rare, and three 

 hours' hard work only produced fifteen examples, namely, an apterous queen, four 

 workers, of which three were badly mutilated, and no less than ten males. It is 

 therefore with real pleasure we are thus able at last to record the male sex as having 

 occurred in Britain. The S of this ant is apterous, and very strongly resembles the 



$ , but comparatively speaking is of slighter build, and, apart from other minute 

 sexual difPerences, is easily distinguished by its twelve-jointed antennae, those of the 



$ being eleven-jointed ; and also by the fact that in the S the ocelli are developed, 

 whereas in the $ they are rarely so, and then only partially. 



Mr. Saunders informs me that Formicoxenua nitidulus is the same species as 

 Farren White and the older British authors knew as Stenamma ivestwoodi ; the 

 latter, however, was described from a ^ which proves to be the ^ of what used to 

 be called Myrmica lippula, so that the old Myrmica lippula is now Stenamma 

 wedwoodi, and the Stenamma westwoodi of olden times we now know as Formi- 

 coxenus nitidulus. 



The Groves, Winlaton-on-Tyne : 

 August \3th, 1906. 



„ 



