1884. J 37 



My special object in visiting the Forest on this occasion was to hunt up Eutheia 

 lavata ; nor was I disappointed, a few examples of each sex being my reward. The 

 riginal specimens occurred under oak bark ; but on this visit I found them on botli 

 ak and birch — svib -cortical, of course. 



In birch wood I found three specimens of Rhyncolus gracilis, and from an oak 

 ;ump I took what I believe to be Elater coccinatiis, the elongate, almost parallel, 

 ensely punctured thorax agreeing with the description of that rare species. 



My other captures must be reserved for a future note ; but I may say that I 

 btained two examples of Ptenidium Gres.fneri from a rotten birch stump, this 

 laking the second British locality for this species. — W. Gr. Blatch, 214, Grreen 

 iane, Smallheath, Birmingham : June 16th, 1884. 



Solenopsis fiigax, Sfc, in the Isle of Wight. — On April 12th, while collecting 

 t the foot of the Culver ClifPs, near Sandown, I came across a nest of ISolenopsis 

 ugax : this, I believe, is the fourth nest of the species that has been found in 

 Jritain, two having been found by the late Mr. Frederick Smith, and two by myself, 

 ^oth in the same locality. I found individual specimens of this ant in one or two 

 ther places, not far from the spot where I discovered the nest, but still far enough 

 way to prove that they belonged to other colonies. It was, however, the position 

 f the nest which made the capture interesting. Sir John Lubbock, on page 78 of 

 [Ants, Bees, and "Wasps" (International Scientific Series), writes as follows: — 

 Another small species, Solenopsis fvg ax, which makes its chambers and galleries in 

 he walls of the nests of the larger species, is the bitter enemy of its hosts. The 

 atter cannot get at them, because they are too large to enter the galleries. The 

 ittle Solenopsis, therefore, are quite safe, and, as it appears, make incursions into 

 •he nurseries of the larger ant, and carry off the larvae as food. It is as if we had 

 mall dwarfs, about eighteen inches to two feet long, harbouring in the walls of our 

 louses, and every now and then carrying ofE some of our children into their horrid 

 .ens!" 



In the case of the nest that I found, the Solenopsis had had no occasion to 

 lake galleries ; on pulling at a large stone to remove it from the side of the slope 

 n which it was imbedded, the top, which fitted very closely, came off in my hand, 

 .nd between it and the lower part the Solenopsis had formed its nest : owing to the 

 )08ition of the stone on a slope, the crack was in direct communication with the side 

 >f the hill in which it was imbedded, and here a large colony of Formica fusca had 

 ettled behind the stone ; not one of the latter, apparently, could have got into the 

 Tack, but the Solenopsis had, of course, easy access to the F. fusca. The weather 

 ivas rather cold, and the ants somewhat torpid, or I might have made further ob- 

 ervations. 



Solenopsis have certainly the power of getting through very small spaces. I 

 hook the nest into a chip box, and enclosed this in two more, and wrapped these in 

 wo pieces of paper, but when I got home I found several in the outermost piece of 

 )aper, and the majority had escaped ; one or two of the chip boxes were, certainly, 

 lot quite safe for very minute insects, but, at the same time, I thought that they 

 ;ould not have got through all. 



There were a large number of other species of ants to be found in the same 

 jlace. Tetramorium cespitum and Formica cunicularia seemed common, and the 



