ANERGATES ATRATULUS, SCHBNK. 2l9 



the ant standing in Curtis' guide as Myrmica maciilipes, Curt., which 

 was taken by his father at Charmouth in 1835 {i.e., 17 years before its 

 description by Schenk). No trace, however, of this ant can be found, 

 this synonomy being given neither in Forel, Smith, nor Dalla Torre, 

 and the matter therefore must be considered as very doubtful. 



As the S of Aner<jates is apterous and can only walk with 

 difficulty, mating (which I have repeatedly observed) must necessarily 

 take place inside the nest, and assume the form of adelphogamy. In 

 my nest the ? s removed their wings soon after copulation and 

 made no attempt to leave the nest. In every case also each dealated 

 5 seized a Tetrainonuni ^ by the antenna, and kept hold for hours 

 and sometimes days. In nature this would probably have occurred 

 outside a strange nest to which the ? was trying to gain admission, 

 and may have for its object the acquisition of the odour of the 

 Tetrainorinin, or may cause the strange ^ s to drag her more readily 

 into their nest. Neither of these explanations seems quite satisfactory 

 however. 



It is important here to emphasise the complete adoption of a newly 

 fertilised Anen/ates 2 as queen by a large colony of 7'. caespitiim 

 (recorded elsewhere), as it solves the problem of the elimination of the 

 host 2 !^- In this case the Tetramorinm killed off all their own ^ s and 

 5 s, including two dealated $ s, two days after accepting the Ancn/ates. 

 The latter is now distended to about half the size she should eventually 

 reach. I am inclined to think that a similar slaughter takes place in 

 colonies with queens of Ladus niijer and L. alienus, after the accept- 

 ance of the parasitic 2 s of Lasius iiinbratus and L. niLvtus. Mr. 

 Donisthorpe has repeatedly expressed his opinion that Anertjates would 

 be found in Britain, and last year we actually made a special visit to 

 Whitsand Bay, where Tetianiorium abounds, in the hope of discovering 

 it. Our search, however, was very much hampered by the extreme 

 drought, which caused the ants to retire deep into the earth. 



The 3 of the British Anert/ates possesses no strigil, and therefore 

 corresponds to the form found in Holland rather than to that found 

 further south. The 2 , one of which I sent to Forel, is the typical A. 

 atratitlus. 



J^OTES ON COLLECTING, Etc. 



Collecting Notes 1912. — I had the pleasure of taking I'ho.vuiiteri/x 

 npvpana in a wood near here on May 19th, after havmg worked for it 

 for some years. At Hailsham, on June 6th, at the entrance to a wood 

 where BnuiKiii jlexuosum (the common earth-nut now known as Cono- 

 podium denudatmii. — H. •). T.) is the the commonest flowering plant, 

 Odezia atrata was plentiful. Adscita statices, too, in lovely condition, 

 was found in an open space in the same wood. The specimens netted 

 included the blue-green type form. 1 visited Hindhead Common on 

 June lOfch, a very unfavourable day, and found it difficult to get any- 

 thing to Hy. The only moth at all interesting to me was J'/io.roptcn/.r 

 {Ancluflopera) iin/rtillana one or two examples of which I knocked out 

 of the \'(icci)iiinii. I was at Lyndhurst for a few days in the middle oi 

 June but had a disappointing time. Rliyaciona {Lietinia) pinivorana, 

 and L'oleophora ahenella, as also larvfe of Sarrothripa nndulamix 

 {revayana) occurred. There was very little butterfly life. I did see 



