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THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



ants had ascended the trunk, they spread out and swarmed 

 amongst the dense masses of aphides in the leaf tufts, and then 

 greedily sucked up the honey-dew. So intent were these ants 

 on feeding that they would not leave the leaf-tufts even when 

 violently shaken. They were noticed to carry the nymphse back 

 with them with great care, now and then putting them down and 

 resting awhile, then hurrying on again with their captives. 

 Mr. Donisthorpe tells me that the ants could not be taking them 

 back to their nests, as plants do not grow on the nests of this 

 ant. Probably, as this aphid is a root feeder during part of its 

 life-cycle, they were carrying them back to plants near their 

 habitations, so that the alatse could deposit their young close to 

 them. If Pachypappa reaumuri is not a true myrmecophilous 

 species, it comes very near to being so. It is certainly attended 

 by ants who take pains to see that they occur in the soil close to 

 their formicaries. 



The characters of the different stages observed are as follows 

 (and I here include the description of the progeny of the " Queen 

 Foundress " more fully noticed by Del Guercio than by myself, 

 the majority having reached the nymphal stage when I became 

 acquainted with this insect). 



Apterous Viviparous Female (Fundatrix). 

 Length 3'8 to 5 mm. Globular in form, very convex above, flattened 

 below. Deep greenish or olive brown to deep brown in colour, one 

 being orange-yellow and some deep olive-green. Head, antenna, 

 legs, and cauda black. Antennae 

 (fig. 2, c) not quite as long as the 

 head and thorax ; the first segment 

 small, the second a little longer 

 than the first, the third the longest, 

 from two and a half to three times 

 as long as the fourth ; the third and 

 fourth segments with scattered silky 

 hairs all over ; the first and second 

 also with a few hairs, mainly on one 

 side. The eyes are of moderate size, 

 dark ; stemmata pale and prominent. 

 Rostrum thin and acuminate, pale at 

 the base, dark on the apical half, 

 reaching just past the base of the 

 second pair of legs, the apical segment 

 a little longer than the penultimate, 

 the next long and thin. The legs are 

 dark, thick, and rather short, with 

 short scattered hairs ; the legs all project a little beyond the sides 

 of the body. The body has the segments deeply constricted, especi- 

 ally dorsally ; with fine, scanty, short hairs, and to some extent 

 farinaceous, especially between the segments. 

 (To be continued.) 



Fig. 1. — Paclujpappa reaumuri, Kalt. 

 (apterous viviparous female). 



