94 COLEOPTERA. 



on the under surface of the flint well searched, this should be 

 replaced in its former position. At Mickleham, where, in the 

 spring and early summer, Claviger testaceus might formerly 

 to a certainty be found, I have for the last two years re- 

 peatedly but fruitlessly looked for it ; but few colonies of the 

 ant, which once abounded, are now to be met with : this I 

 ^ am inclined to attribute mainly if not entirely to the omission, 

 during a series of years, on the part of those engaged in 

 searching for the Claviger, to replace the stones over the 

 ants' nests, thus leaving the inmates to perish. In Germany 

 and France, a second species of Claviger ( C. longicornw, 

 Muller) is found in the nests of this ant ; if assiduously 

 searched for, it would probably be met with here. 



Myrmica rubra occurs in similar situations, and con- 

 structs its nests in the same way as the preceding species ; the 

 mode of search is therefore identical. This ant is not in good 

 repute with continental Entomologists, as beetles are rarely 

 found in its company; with it, however, Myrmedonia 

 (Astilbus, Steph.) canaliculata usually abounds, and I have 

 likewise occasionally met with a solitary specimen of Ate- 

 meles emarginatus, and once, near Dorking, a single in- 

 dividual of the scarce Staphylinus latebricola, Grav. (ceri- 

 c&ps, Kirby, Steph.) 



I would remark, that an investigation of the nests of 

 several other species of ants, not alluded to in this paper, 

 would probably result in important discoveries. On the part 

 which the Myrmecopkili play in the economy of the ants' 

 nest, neither time nor space permit me, on the present 

 occasion, even to touch; the consideration of this important 

 question must of necessity be deferred until a future opportu- 

 nity. My primary object, as I have before stated, in hurriedly 

 penning these lines, is to point out how ants' nests may be 

 profitably searched; and, furthermore, by enumerating the 



