THE ACULEATE HYMENOPTERA OF MID-SOLWAY. XV. 



but few exceptions, this district is not at all rich in species, and still less 

 in the numbers in which the species that do occur are represented. 

 Of course, owing to the very insufficient way in which the very few 

 collectors who have studied these insects have of necessity examined 

 the district at large, it is certain that many species have escaped obser- 

 vation ; but enough is known to prove that we are comparatively poor 

 in the classes under notice. This is doubtless caused by the general 

 absence of suitable sandy soil. The district of whose Aculeates we 

 propose to give an account may be stated broadly as the country that 

 lies betwixt Annandale on the east and the valley of the Dee on the 

 west. It is thus the mid portion of the faunal territory, known to all 

 Scottish Naturalists as " Solway," being one of the zoological divisions 

 into which the late Dr Buchanan White so admirably mapped out 

 Scotland for faunistic purposes. In the meantime, owing to the almost 

 complete absence of materials, there is no use in extending our present 

 remarks outside the limits of Mid-Solway. The nomenclature employed 

 is that of Mr Edward Saunders — Catalogue of British Hynienoptera 

 (Aculeata), 1883. 



The Ants stand /^r excellence^ not only at the head of the Aculeates, 

 but, in the stage of evolution to which they have attained in respect to 

 their well-ordered communities, and in the high degree of intelligence 

 reached by the individual, they are unquestionably in advance of all 

 other insects whatsoever. 



Formica cunicularia is the first species on our list, and is fairly 

 common. It varies much in size, as do so many other species of ants, 

 and some of the " races," as they are termed, have received names, 

 having been considered at one time to be distinct species. Lasius niger 

 is the small ant so abundant everywhere, and sometimes so troublesome 

 to gardeners when it takes up its abode in glass-houses. Tapinoma 

 erratica is in general appearance similar to the last named, but is much 

 darker, and it has also some structural peculiarities. It is a very scarce 

 species here. Myrmica is a genus of small ants that is represented here, 

 as elsewhere in Britain, by a single extremely variable species. No 

 less than five very distinct " races " are recognised by Mr Edward 

 Saunders, the great authority on the Aculeates. Of these I have very 

 commonly taken— indeed they are the commonest of all our ants — 

 Ruginodis, Scabrinodis, and Lgevinodis. Sulcinodis and Lobicornus 

 have not been detected as yet. Leptothorax acervorum is a small 

 species sometimes found in little communities under bark or rotten 

 stumps in the Mabie woods. I have not found it elsewhere. The last 

 ant amongst our local species is a very interesting one, inasmuch as it 

 has only been known to exist here within the last ten years or so. It is 

 the Monomorium Pharaonis — rather a startlingly long name for such a 

 minute creature. It is confined to places where it finds sufficient heat, 

 such as bake-houses, hot-houses, and dwelling-houses kept at a 

 sufficiently high temperature. Lately I was called in to see this ant 



