( xxxvi ) 



are truly very large. But, besides, ants act generally in a body, 

 and if one soldier or worker could not eject the intruder, several 

 could. Instead of that they evidently tolerate them, and yet it is 

 distressing to watch the efforts of the nurses to protect the larvae 

 under their care ; they go so far as to remove whole heaps of eggs 

 and larvae in the midst of which a Paussus is busy munching. 

 They certainly try to coax him away ; they do not bite tenaciously 

 as is their wont, of that 1 am absolutely certain, but in return 

 the Paussus does not crepitate. 



The only conclusion I can draw, and it is a speculative one, is 

 that the crepitating power of the beetle is so well known to the 

 ants, that they make a virtue of necessity, or that the ants I have 

 had under observation have been so accustomed, through hereditary 

 consciousness, to the destructive crepitating power of Paussidce, 

 that they no longer struggle against it. This latter view may 

 explain why so many species of Paussi are found in the nests of 

 ants belonging to the genus Pheidole. 



" Through the courtesy of Professor C. Emery, of Bologna, 

 who has kindly identified the specimens of Fonnicidcc I sent him 

 for that purpose, I am able to state that P. Linnei and P. 

 Bwiaeisteri live with Pheidole capensis, Mayr. ; P. cucuUatus and 

 P. SJmckardi with Pheidole megacephala, Fab. (at least probably 

 that species). P. Plini and P. Curtisi, I am informed by my 

 friend, Mr. Ayres, are found in the Transvaal among ants, which 

 from his description I judge to be also Pheidole megacephala ; and 

 lastly, Signer Emery writes to me that P. Favieri, of Southern 

 Europe, also haunts the nests of Pheidole pallidula. Now, all 

 Pheidole are, I believe, remarkably alike. Why should so many 

 Paussi select the nests of ants belonging to that genus, unless 

 they were certain of their supremacy ? 



"Paussus lineatus (which I believe to be the same as P. Icetus, 

 Genl.), lives with Acaiitholepis capensis, Mayr., and is never 

 found, as far as four years' close observation in the same locality 

 enables me to judge, in the galleries of Pheidole capensis, although 

 the nests of A. capensis and of the latter are often se[iarated 

 from one another by a thin partition only, so much so that often, 

 on upturning a stone, I laid open both nests. 



" I have no doubt that when collectors will carefully capture 

 ants and Paussi the number of those parasites of the Pheidoles 

 will be greatly increased. I believe, from comiuuuications made 



