( Ixvii ) 
which had been swept over by a forest fire some few years ago. 
There was no doubt that the larvae had a pi’eference for this 
burnt timber, as they were much more abundant in this area 
than in similar timber in adjacent parts of the woods; (c) 
Zeugophora turneri, Pow.—This species was beaten in great 
profusion from aspens growing near Loch an-Eilan. Many of 
the specimens were slightly immature, and as the species had 
been taken early in June by Mr. Donisthorpe, near Braemar, 
there is little doubt that this insect is double brooded. 
Experiments with Ants’ Nests. —Mr. W. C. Crawley exhi¬ 
bited a colony of the ant Lasius niger which had accepted as 
queen a $ of Lasius umh'atus in 1908. Up to this autumn 
the only ants which had come to maturity in the nest were 
pure Lasius nigei', thus confirming Reichenbach’s experiments 
(“ Biologische Centralblatt,” July 15, 1902, p. 461), that 
Losing niger ^s are able to produce ^s parthenogenetically. 
It was hitherto supposed that ^s of ants could only lay eggs 
that produced i^s, on the analogy of bees. A similar colony 
dating from 1896 gave similar results (‘' Science Gossip,” May 
1900). 
In connection with Mr. Crawley’s exhibit Mr. H. St. J. 
Donisthorpe exhibited ^ winged and wingless $ $ and ^ ^ 
of Lasiits niger and L. umhratus for comparison. He remarked 
that umhratus was a scarce but widely distributed ant of con¬ 
siderable interest. Mr. Barnes has recorded nine wingless $ $ 
in a nest of Formica sanguinea at Wellington College, and he 
himself had found ^ ^ in some numbers on several occasions 
with the same ant at Woking. Wasmann has recorded 
umhratus with niger. It is probable that L. umhratus $ is 
unable to found her own nests and is a temporary social 
parasite on niger. Mr. Crawley’s observations and experiments 
go to confirm this. 
Mr. Donisthorpe also exhibited ^ winged and wingless $ $ ^ 
and ^ ^ of Lasius fuliginosus, and pointed out that it was now 
proved that the $ $ of this ant often founded their colonies 
with imih'atus. He quoted Wasmann, Forel, Emery, Crawley 
and his own observations, and stated that Mr. Crawley and 
he intended to make experiments with these ants next year. 
In connection with the ^ ^ bred in Mr. Crawley’s nest from 
E 2 
