FORMALIN A REMEDY FOR MOULD. 391 



scabrinodis, Icsvinodis, ■k.c, which were formerly regarded as mere 

 subspecies" ('Journal New York Ent. Soc' xix. 1911, p. 1G3). 



The varieties of Formica fusca, L., have been quite in- 

 accurately dealt with in this country. It is impossible to tell 

 if the various records of rufiharhis and cunicalaria really refer to 

 the subspecies rufiharhis, F., or one of the vars. of fusca. 

 (F. cunicularia, Latr., is really a synonym of rufiharhis, F.) The 

 \^x. fusco-rufiharhis is very abundant at Whitsand Bay, and all 

 the ants in some of the nests are of a very dark colour, being 

 intermediate between MghiQv fusco-rufiharhis and gleharia. The 

 former lives chiefly in the sand on the borders of rivers, lakes, 

 and by the sea; the latter in the earth on the plains. F. fusca 

 is more common in woods. Forel says that gleharia, ruhescens, 

 and fusco-rufiharhis have more the habits of F. fusca, and are 

 not so warlike as rufiharhis. On the other hand, I have found 

 the var. fusco-rufiharhis is not nearly so cowardly an ant as 

 fusca proper, and Crawley tells me this is his experience with 

 gleharia. The var. fusco-rufiharhis is very silky (with silvery 

 pubescence), darker than rufiharhis, the back of the thorax brown, 

 less polymorphic, and much less hairy, especially on the thorax. 

 It resembles ruhescens, but is more pubescent and less red, more 

 red, however, than gleharia as a rule. 



It is of interest to notice that the myrmecophilous beetles, 

 Atemeles paradoxus and Dinarda -pygmcea occur with fusco-rufi- 

 harhis and not with fusca proper ; the known distribution of 

 both species in Britain being almost confined to the seaside (the 

 first having been found in the Plymouth district, Weston-super- 

 Mare, Isle of Wight, Folkestone, Bournemouth, &c., and the 

 second in the Plymouth district and at Weston-super-Mare), as 

 might be expected from the habits of the Formica hosts. Of 

 the former genus, Atemeles emarginatus, on the other hand, is 

 only found with /(tsca, and not with its subspecies or varieties ; 

 the winter hosts of both Atemeles being species of the genus 

 Myrmica. 



FORMALIN A EEMEDY FOR MOULD ON CABINET 



SPECIMENS. 



By W. G. Sheldon, F.E.S. 



It is now some thirty-five years since I was informed by the 

 late John T. Carrington that the best remedy for mould on 

 cabinet specimens was " glacial carbolic acid," and from that day 

 until about a year back I used ifc exclusively for that purpose. 



The treatment proved fairly successful until I came to reside 

 in my present house some seven years ago ; but in consequence 

 I suppose of the house being a new one, and the walls being full 

 of damp, mould commenced to appear extensively in my collec- 



