New Nests of Ants hy Myrmecopliilous Coleojjtera. 425 



success. I have kept many examples alive in my observa- 

 tion nests of L. fiavits and L. niger, but have never been 

 able to breed it. I saw it fed and licked by its hosts, and 

 also feed on their larvae. I saw specimens riding on each 

 other, but this does not imply copulation, as, as many as 

 five or more Clavigers will all ride mounted on each other, 

 the bottom one carrying them all ; numbers also ride on 

 their hosts. 



At Portland, where I found it in numbers, I also saw 

 specimens riding on each other in the nests. I intro- 

 duced specimens there from L. flamis nests to L. niger 

 nests and vice versa, both near to each other and at a 

 distance, and they were always accepted by the ants. I 

 also obtained similar results in my observation nests at 

 home, including F, rufa. Last year, however, specimens 

 which I had taken with L.fiavusoX Dartmouth, introduced 

 into an observation nest of Tetramorium caespitum, were 

 attacked and killed by the ants. 



Father Schmitz found that C. longicornis was received 

 by most of the ants he introduced it to, except F. rufi- 

 harhis and sanguinca, which killed it. 



When a nest is disturbed the ants often pick up the 

 Clavigers and carry them into safety. Father Schmitz 

 showed that C. longicornis was carried riding on the ants 

 (Z. umhratus\ when he allowed them to enter a new nest. 

 Professor Hetschko records C. testaceus as often attached 

 to the winged $ ants, and suggests they may be spread to 

 other and new nests through the marriage flight. He 

 found the beetles could live away from ants when fed 

 with dead flies, etc. Wasmann had already pointed out 

 that they also fed on the ants' larvae. The beetles appear 

 to hybernate in the nests. 



It is very doubtful if the larva described by L. von 

 Heyden (" Jahrb. Nass. Ver. Naturk," 1876-77, p. 201) is 

 that of Claviger at all. 



Dcndrophiliis pygmaeus, L. 



Normal hosts. — Formica rufa, L., and pratensis, De G 



Stephens recorded this species as taken in plenty in 

 sand-pits on Hampstead Heath and gravel-pits in Coombe 

 Wood. (" Mand." Ill, 1830, p. 160.) 



I have bred specimens in my F. rufa observation nest, and 

 have found the pupa in a nest of that ant at Haye Woods 



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



