MYRMECOPHILOUS NOTES FOR 1921. ^ 21 



Myrmecophilous Notes for 1921. 



By HORACE DONISTHORPE, F.Z.S., E.E.S., etc. 

 (Concluded from page 5.) 



Aphidid.^^.. 



Foida forniicaria, Heyd. — In June Mr. Halletfc found a number of 

 the rare alate form of this Aphid at Penarth ; they were resting 

 quietly on the under surface of the stone over a nest of A. (D.) niger. 



2)/r/iea setidosa, Pass. — Specimens of this Aphid were taken in some 

 numbers in a nest of A. (C.) flaviis at Bristol in June by Mr. H. 

 Womersley. This is the first record I have had of this species being 

 found with ants. 



PJioroidm Jiiniiidi, Schrank. — Mr. Phillips found a certain number 

 of the " Hop Aphis " in nests of A. (C.) iiii.rtns at Graiqurnamagh, 

 Kilkenny, in June. He tells me the ants picked up the plant-lice and 

 carried them into safety. As the specimens were nymphs it is probable 

 part of the early life is passed in ants' nest. 



Anoecia [Sclnzoneiira) corni, F. — Mr. Stelfox sent me some 

 Aphids taken in nests of A. (C.) viixtus at Mt. Garrett Wood 

 on September 16th, and A. (D.) nir/ei- at Ferrybank on October 

 6th, Co. Wexford. I submitted them to Mr. Laing, who found 

 they agreed with Buckton's slides of Paraeletits ciinicifaruih. We 

 found however that they did not agree with my specimens of the 

 latter, and I told him I always doubted all records of Faracletus with 

 any other ant except Tetraiiion'ioii caesjrititDi — Bnckton records it from 

 nests of Fonirica riifa. Laing has gone into the matter further and he 

 writes — " Buckton states in his description of the genus Paradetus 

 that the third, fourth, and fifth joints of the antennae are nearly equal. 

 This is correct for the diagnosis of Paradetus. In his figures of P. 

 ciiiiicifonnis, however (Plate CIL, fig. 4 and 4c), he shows the antenna 

 with joint 3 much longer than the two following. His slides bear out 

 these figures and show that they are not' Paradetus ciniicifonnis at all, 

 but Anoecia corni, F. I think that the evidence is conclusive that 

 Buckton's records of /*. cimiciformis should be wiped out ; he does not 

 appear ever to have had this species." ^,„*-^""'"~^" ■'=■<».,. 



My own captures of A^ corni with ants are as t'^ii^^<^¥^W*vthi>^{J^^'*^ 

 Myniiica laevinodis, Balrath, Co. Meath, Septemb^lC^^b, 1910 ; . ^*/l 

 Formica fusca, Hartlepool, October 10th, 1910, anal Whitsand Bay, 

 July 9th, 1911; A. {€.) dams, on an Island infteob^^^|^Ym|yJQ29 

 September 15th, 1911, and Isle of Eigg, Septei^er 17th, "^IBU ■^^^'- 

 Myrinica riii/inodis, Isle of Eigg, September 18th, 191%: h^rmica riifa, 

 Parkhurst Forest, September 8th, 1912 ; and Myrrn}Slj<ff^7^mdiaL ,ce\^^ 



Blackgang, August 26th, 1913. 



Stdiiiaphis qnercHs, L.— Although this is not a myrmecophilous 

 species, it may be as well to record it here, both on account of its 

 apparently extreme rarity in this country, and the fact that it was 

 attended by ants when I discovered it. A few specimens were first 

 taken on September 22nd on the trunk of an oak tree at Woking. 

 They were in crevices and partly under the bark of the tree, and my 

 attention was called to them by the clusters of A. {D.) fidiyinosus $ ^ , 

 February 15th, 192ii. 



/ 



