and Ancestral Form of Myrmecophilous Coleoptera. 407 



Harwood took it with Formica rufa at Colchester. I 

 have taken it with the same ant at Weybridge, and on 

 several occasions with Lasiiis fuliginostis at Wellington 

 College. I am not quite satisfied if the species I have 

 taken with ants is the same as H. nigra, Kr., which 

 Dr. Joy has shown is abundant and widely distributed in 

 moles' nests. My specimens appear to be a little larger, 

 and the puncturation more alutaceous, and consequently 

 less shining. In any case it shows a tendency towards 

 the myrmecophilous habit. 



Quedius mesomelimis, Marsh. 



I once took this common insect in plenty in a nest of 

 Zasius fuliginosus at Chiddingfold, and sparingly with the 

 same ant at Oxshott. Mr. Ellis found an injured specimen 

 in a nest of Formica rufa at Knowle. I have shown by 

 experiment it was unable to protect itself when introduced 

 into nests of Formica rufa. Quedius hrcvis is a purely 

 myrmecophilous beetle, occurring with both the above 

 ants ; Qicedius microps has been recorded with the former 

 by Crotch, and abroad, Quedius puncticollis occurs in wasps' 

 nests, and Joy has shown that Q. longicornis and vexans 

 are inhabitants of moles' nests. We can easily imagine 

 a descendant of Quedius mesomelinus as an ants'-nest species, 



StapJiylinus stercorarius, 01. 



The following records of this widely distributed species 

 occurring with ants are to be found. Bold recorded taking 

 a fine series in the nests of a Myrmica at South Shields 

 (Col. North, and Durham, 1871, p. 37). 



Walker took it on several occasions with Myrmica 

 ruginodis at Rannoch, and I have found it with Lasius 

 flavus at Blackgang and Sandown, Isle of Wight, and 

 with Myrmica scabrinodis near the Forth Bridge. Although 

 generally found away from ants, these cases point to a 

 distinct tendency to inhabit ants' nests. Fowler also 

 records StapTiylinus latehricola as sometimes in company 

 with Formica rufa. 



Othius myrmecophilous, Kies. 



"In moss, dead leaves, etc., sometimes, as its name im- 

 plies, in company with ants {Formica fuliginosa, etc.), but 

 this is by no means always the case, and in fact appears 



