TEAMA TROGLODYTES. 69 



Apterous viviparous female. 



Inch. Millimetres. 



Size of body 0'115x 0-060 2-92xl'52. 



Length of antennas 0*065 1'64. 



Body long oval, slightly domed, ringed and cari- 

 nated, hairy. Colour greenish or yellowish white, 

 transparent. Head rather small; eyes almost rudi- 

 mentary. Antennae about half the length of the body, 

 six- jointed, the last being provided with a nail. 

 E/Ostrum long, but the length varies with age. In 

 young examples it projects beyond the abdominal 

 apex. Legs long, particularly the hind pair, which 

 have largely developed tarsi, furnished with a double 

 claw. By these tarsi the insect may be readily sepa- 

 rated from all other described root-feeders. The long 

 hind legs are often vibrated, and occasionally they are 

 jerked upwards in the manner affected by several 

 LaclinincB. 



When the insects are unearthed they appear of a 

 pale semitransparent hue, but by exposure to the air 

 the antennge and legs speedily become browner. 



Trama troglodytes feeds on a variety of roots. 

 Amongst these may be named Leontodon taraxacum, 

 Cnicus arvensis^ Sonchus oleraceus, Lactiica saliva, 

 Hieracium pilosellaj Crepis biennis, and Artemisia 

 vulgaris. 



Heyden found small companies of this species 

 domiciled in ants' nests ; and Sir John Lubbock, from 

 Beckenham, and Mr. Hardy, from the Grampian Hills, 

 have obligingly forwarded examples to me taken from 

 similar localities. 



The part played by these Aphides in the economy 

 of these ants is not very obvious. Their presence can 

 scarcely be for affording food to their hosts, for the 

 absence of nectaries seems to preclude the secretion of 

 the nutritive honey-dew. Such an explanation, more- 

 over, will not account for the like presence of various 



