604 jNIr. F. SWtli\s (fcscrijitiotis of 



•\vlieu the tliorn>5, forwarded in a letter, were received by 

 Mr. llutehliisoii's mother, some of the ants were still alive 

 and active, after having been at least six weeks on their 

 jonrney ; so that, calculating from the time the thorns 

 were collected in the AVeenen district of Natal, at a spot 

 one hundred and twenty miles from the coast, in all pro- 

 bability the ants had been two months in reaching their 

 destination, thus showing a wonderful tenacity of life in 

 these insects. 



Subsequent to the reception of the first ])arcel of thorns 

 a second supply has been received, in which it was found 

 that many of the ants were still alive. Two of these 

 thorns were sent to me, when, on cutting one open, I had 

 the pleasure of finding the three sexes. Figures of each 

 are given in the plate that illustrates this paper. 



One circumstance that I observed may possibly, to some 

 extent, account for the fact of some of the ants being alive 

 Avhen they reached England. I noticed that the abdomen 

 of several specimens Avas mutilated, a hole being observable 

 on the upper surfice of them. This gave rise to the 

 suggestion in my mind of the possibility of the ants having 

 fed upon each other. This is, however, a matter of entire; 

 uncertainty ; but that they could easily gnaw holes through 

 the integument of the abdomen is proved by the fact of 

 their perforating the thorns, which are of a much harder 

 consistency. 



Among the thorns sent, one or more were tenanted by a 

 distinct species of ant, Pseiidonujrnia natalensis. These 

 also were alive when received, the majority being females. 



Previous to finding the sexes of Meranoplus intrndens 

 in the acacia thorn, I was unacquainted with the male of 

 any species of that genus; it was, therefore, very gratifying 

 to find that in this genus of Cri/ptoccridce the male sex does 

 not differ in form so entirely from the others as it is found 

 to do in the genus Cryptocerus ; on the contrary, it greatly 

 resembles the worker : it has however ocelli, which the 

 worker has not. The female is distinguished by an 

 elongated abdomen, a more ovate form of thorax, and 

 having, like the male, both wings and ocelli. 



An interesting circumstance connected Avith the opening 

 of the acacia spine that contained the three sexes of 

 Meranoplus, Avas that of my finding Avitli them a small 

 bee belonging to the exotic genus Allodape. This genus 

 of bees is closely allied to that of Ceratina, the habit of the 

 latter being to perforate the pith of dead bramble stems. 



