( XXXV ) 



ground ; they would abandon it when thoroughly mangled and 

 begin with another. In vain did the workers try to remove the 

 beetle from the heap of larvae, their efforts were unequal to the vis 

 inertice of the Paussus. So far, 1 have not seen the latter attack 

 the newly-born ants, although T have tried repeatedly the experi- 

 ment of seclusion. The process of manducation might be called 

 one of suction, because all the Paussi I placed under the micro- 

 scope always held the larva with one fore leg, sometimes with 

 both, but hardly moved their head and never swallowed it 

 entirely. 



" The fact that the Paussidce are predatory beetles may now be 

 said to be well established, and it is a proof of Lacordaire's 

 assertion that the nearest affinity of the PaussidcB lies with the 

 CarabldcB. Nevertheless they are true parasites, — of that there 

 can be no doubt. Witli the exception of a few stray specimens 

 caught on the wing, all the South-African Paussidtr. I have seen 

 or possess were met with in ants' nests, and those friends or 

 correspondents of mine who, following my instructions, have 

 searched for Paussi, have invariably found them there only. In 

 some cases many specimens were found together : — Pentapla- 

 tarthrus paussoides, P. paussoldes var. natulensis, Paussus 

 cucullatus, P. Klugi. 



" But in the neighbourhood of Cape Town, with the exception 

 of Pentaplatarthrus, I never found more than three specimens 

 together. Yet the ants' nests were in such close proximity to one 

 another, that within three hours I captured 37 specimens of P. 

 Burmeisteri, Lhinei, and lineatus. Had the nests any ramification, 

 which I did not perceive, and were they parts of a huge colony? 

 i doubt it; because, whenever I stored together two lots of ants 

 taken from the same locality, they certainly did not agree, and for 

 a long time tbe soldiers would be engaged in a most deadly fight. 



'' But why do not the ants get rid of their enemy? P. lineatus 

 is certainly more bulky than the Acantholepis capensis among 

 which it was, and which have no soldiers ; there brute force 

 might carry the day, but in the case of P. Linnei and P. 

 Burmeisteri the former is smaller and the latter certainly not 

 much larger than the soldiers of PJieldule capensis, their host, 

 who is a very savage and plucky ant indeed ; and what are we to 

 say of Pentaplatarthrus paussoides selecting the abode of Aphceiw- 

 ijaster burbara var. capensis, ihe sold iersaud neuters of which 



