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VIII. On the Colonisation of Neiu Nests of Ants hy Myrmeco- 

 jphilous Coleoptera. By H. St. J. Donisthorpe, F.Z.S. 



[Read June 2, 1909.] 



In a letter, dated January 19th, 1876, to Professor Forel, 

 Charles Darwin wrote — " I hope you will allow me to 

 suggest an observation, should any opportunity occur, on a 

 point which has interested me for some years — viz., how 

 do the Coleoptera which inhabit the nests of ants colonise 

 a new nest ? Mr. Wallace, in reference to the presence of 

 such Coleoptera in Madeira, suggests that their ova may 

 be attached to the winged female ants, and that these are 

 occasionally blown across the ocean to the island. It would 

 be very interesting to discover whether the ova are adhe- 

 sive, and whether the female Coleoptera are guided by 

 instinct to attach them to the female ants ; or whether the 

 larvae pass through an early stage, as with Sitaris or 3feloe, 

 or cling to the bodies of the females. This note obviously 

 requires no answer. I trust that you continue your most 

 interesting investigations on ants." (" More Letters of 

 Charles Darwin," 1903, vol. ii,p. 11.) 



Professor Poulton, when calling my attention to the 

 passages quoted above, suggested that I should endeavour 

 to answer this question. The following paper is the 

 result. 



In this, the hundredth anniversary of the birth of the 

 illustrious Darwin, it is especially appropriate to bring 

 together all the available evidence bearing on the subject. 

 This question shows, as usual, Darwin's wonderful insight 

 into the most interesting and arresting problems in natural 

 history, and his clearness of thought in at once putting 

 his finger on the most important point in them. 



This paper only deals with such species as are truly 

 myrmecophilous in their habits, that is to say, those which 

 are almost invariably found with ants, and not those which 

 are more often found elsewhere. With the latter I have 

 dealt in a previous paper (Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond., 1909, 

 p. 397). 



The actual seeking of new nests, and oviposition in 

 them by ants'-nest beetles, are almost impossible to 



TRANS. ENT. SOC. LOND. 1909. — PART III. (SEPT.) 



