195 



A FATAL COMBAT BETWEEN A ROVE 

 BEETLE AND AN ANT, 



BY 



C. A. WITCHELL AND C. J. WATKINS, 



(Read June ist, 1899) 



I.— DESCRIPTION OF COMBAT 



BY 



C. A. WITCHELL 



On the I2th of May, at 6.45 a.m., when gardening, I 

 found on a ball of mould two insects holding each other. 

 One was a Rove beetle {Xantholinus punctulahis, Payk), 

 and the other was a worker of the Garden ant (Lasitts 

 niger). The ant held in its jaws one of the antennae of 

 the Rove beetle ; and the latter bit at and held a leg or 

 an antenna of the ant, but did not retain its hold for 

 long. The ant appeared to be having the best of the 

 combat. He held on firmly, and seemed quite at ease ; 

 the Rove beetle, on the contrary, seemed anxious to be 

 rid of its enemy. The insects pulled each other from 

 spot to spot on the mould; and after a quarter of fln 

 hour had elapsed I persuaded them to alight on a piece 

 of brown paper. But they still held each other. 



I covered them with a glass, and looked at them from 

 time to time. Thinking to refresh them, I wetted the 



