410 Mr, H. St. J. Donisthorpe on the Origin 



Wasmann gives Zasiiis fuliginosits a.s its host, and writes, 

 " Although this species is often taken also in hornets' nests, 

 in earth, etc., I still hold it in preference as myrmeco- 

 philous." Bendrophihts -pygniaeus is purely myrmeco- 

 philous ; the hardness of the body in the Histeridae pro- 

 tect them from the attacks of the ants, and it is evident 

 that a certain number of species are experimentiug in 

 a myrmecophilous life. 



Abraeus glohosus, Hoffm. 



" In rotten wood of beech, ash, etc. . . . Mickleham, in 

 nests of F.fidiginosa " (Fowler). 



Crotch recorded it as not rare with Zasi^is fidiginosus at 

 Weston-super-Mare, but most abundant in Cambridgeshire, 

 and he writes, " Though I have no doubt this species is a 

 truly myrmecophilous insect, it has a great partiality for 

 fungus " (Zool, 1862, p. 8140). 



Kraatz recorded it with Formica rufa (Stett. Ent. Zeitz., 

 1851, p. 170), and Von Hagens with Lasius hriinncus (Berl. 

 Ent. Zeitschr., 1855, p. iii). Perris described the larva 

 of this species from a nest of Lasius fuliginosus (Ann. Soc. 

 Linn. Lyon., xii, 1876, p. 16). 



It is much more frequently found in rotten wood away 

 from ants ; I have taken it in rotten trees in the New 

 Forest, Tewkesbury and Enfield, but never with ants. If 

 it were not for the records with F. rufa, etc., one might 

 imagine that Lasius ftdiginosus had selected a tree already 

 occupied by the beetle, but even so, this might represent 

 the beginning of a myrmecophilous life. 



Cetonia aurata, L. 



This species is only occasionally found with ants. In- 

 deed, Father Schmitz, in a paper on " Some Traditional 

 Errors in Zoological Literature " (Natur u. Offenbarung. 

 Band 54, 1908, p. 99), points out that the larvae of Cetonia 

 aurata is repeatedly quoted as living in the nests of the 

 wood ant, when really Cetonia cuprca, F. {Jioricola, Hbst., 

 aenca, Gyll.), is intended, and that Wasmann has only found 

 the former on one or two occasions with ants. The follow- 

 ing genuine records, however, occur here. 



Janson recorded the larvae with F. rufa (Ent. Ann., 1856, 

 p. 151) ; F. Smith writes, ' I have found the Cetonia aurata 



