FORMICID.E. 21 



and ? leave the nest about midsummer. Thisyear (1893) the 

 $ and $ have been taken early in May. Fonnicoxenus niti- 

 dulus, Nyl, one of the Mynnicidw, associates with it, and it 

 also harbours in its nests many species of myrmecophilous 

 Coleoplera ; the race prafcnsis is rare in this country, but 

 has been recorded from Bournemouth and Eannoch. 



F. sanguinea, Ltr. — Somewhat like rufa, but brighter 

 in coloration ; the c? has the mandibles with four to five 

 teeth, the clypeu3 emarginate anteriorly, and the legs of a 

 brighter paler red. 



The $ and 5 difEer from rufa in having the red colour 

 paler, brighter and more extensive, the frontal area dull, 

 the clypeus emarginate and scarcely carinated, and the 

 abdomen in the ? clothed with fine short pubescence. 



L. (? ? 9-10 mm., ^ 5-9 mm. 



The and ? leave the nests about midsummer. 



Chobham ; Woking ; Weybridge. Hawley, Hants ; Now 

 Forest; [Smith). Shirley ; (Itoth net/). Wellington College ; 

 {W. F. Whit^'). 



One of our most interesting ants, as it makes " slaves " 

 of Formica fusca aud its race cunicularia, and many other 

 species are occasionally found in its nests ; these are 

 generally made on banks and are less symmetrical than 

 those of rufa, and as far as I have seen less elevated. G. 

 A. J. Rothney takes Leptothomx acervorum in aud about 

 the nests of this species, but the relationship between them 

 is not certain. 



F. exsecta, Nyl. — Another red species very like the 

 two preceding in general colour, but very distinct in form ; 

 the vertex of the head is widely emarginate aud the scale 

 of the petiole is deeply notched above in all the forms, and 

 in the ? and 5 t^e eyes are smaller and further re- 

 moved from the vertex, and the sides of the head 

 behind the eyes converge posteriorly, the surface of the 

 ? is dull throughout, except that of the scutollum. 



L. cJ and ? 7-S mm., $ 6-8 mm. 



