MYRMECOPHILOUS NOTES FOR 1911. 35 



May 8rd and 4th, and a larva was subsequently observed by Crawley 

 in one of his nests. 



Drusilla canalicnlata, F., was found in F. fnsca nests at Rannoch 

 on June 10th. 



Qiieiiiiis hreris, Er. — Larvffi were found in nests of L. fuliyinosiis at 

 Wellington College on May 6th. 



Conosoma iwwaculaUwi, Steph. — This species was several times 

 found in nests of F. fnsca at Boxhill. Last year I took it on several 

 occasions in a nest of L. fiilii/inosua at Darenth Wood. These seem 

 curious localities for a beetle which is often found in fens and damp 

 places, in sedge refuse, etc. On April 14th I introduced a specimen 

 into my F. fnsca nest from Hartlepool. It protected itself against the 

 ants and lived in the nest till 20th, when it escaped. Another beetle 

 { Med on hiiiniwa, Er.), an ant, and a bug introduced from Box Hill on 

 the same day were all killed by the ants in a few hours. 



Dendrnphilus p)/(iiiiaeiis, L. — The specimen^" mentioned in my " Notes 

 for 1910," which bred out of my F. riifa nest on September 8th, 1910, 

 died on August 7th this year. On May 7th I put it into my F\ ruja 

 mixed nest from Parkhurst Forest, and on July 11th into my F. nifa 

 and i. fiisco-ri(jibarbis nest. It lived on quite friendly tei*ms with all 

 those ants. 



Cetouia floricola, Hbst. — A number of larvaa were taken in a hillock 

 of F. riifa at Nethy Bridge, on June 17th. These I introduced into 

 my F. nifa nest on June 25th, when they at once buried themselves 

 in the nest. A perfect insect hatched out on September 24th. The rest 

 no doubt will appear next year. I have several times seen some of the 

 larvfe against the glass sides of the nest. 



DiPTERA. — Microdot miitahilis, L. — My chief reason for going to 

 Porlock this year, was to try' and find mote larvse of this handsome fly 

 in the ants' nests there, and to endeavour once more to find out what 

 the food of the larva really is. On April 27th Crawley and I found 

 three large larvse, four quite small young ones, and ten pupa? in nests 

 of F. fnsca, and a very young one in a nest of Mynuica rt(;/inodis. 

 This is the first record of a Microdon larva in the nest of a Jilijniiica. 

 Wasmann'^" records the larva of this fly with F. fnsca, F. nifa, L. mfibarbis, 

 L. niger, L. brnnnens, and L. davns, and subsequently^^ with 

 F. sanijninea. — On April 28th we found nineteen large larvae and one 

 pupa in F. fnsca nests in the woods further away from Porlock. I took back 

 a nest of F. fnsca and fixed it up in a Crawley nest, and introduced into 

 it all my share of the larvae and pupre on May 3rd. On May 4th two 

 of the larvje pupated. On May 18th the first fly hatched but its wings 

 never grew. The ants threatened it with their jaws, but did not 

 otherwise attack it. Other specimens hatched on May 22nd, 2ith, 

 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th, and 31st. All were perfect, the wings 

 growing to their full size in a few minutes, excepting two besides the 

 one before mentioned, in which the wings never grew, due I expect to 

 injuries received in bringing them home. When the ants approached 

 a fly it kicked out with its back legs, and the ants appeared to be 

 frightened. In nature the flies would leave the nest at once. Crawley 



19 Ent. Rec, 1911, p. 60. 



a> Krit. Ver. d. Myr. u. Ter. Art., 1894, p. 173. 



21 Erst. Nacht z. d. Ameisen gciste v. Holland Limbiirg, 1898, p. 7. 



