4 
426 Mr. C. 0. Fargifarson’s Five Years’ Observations 
red mite. One or two have two or three or four mites, 
and I think, so far as I have observed, the mites take up a 
symmetrical position on the pedicel. There is a much 
larger fat-looking mite moving about among the débris, 
which I’d like to prove was the female parent. With a 
little luck, however, I may make something of this lot. I 
have also another family, with naked pupae, of an extremely 
minute red ant, hardly over half as big as a Monomoriwm. 
Aug. 11, 1918.—{ Probably referring to the above nests. | 
Another thing I was keen on working up was the mite 
inquilines on one of the Pheidoles here, not the house one. 
I found them duly arranged as described in Wheeler, on the 
callows of the species, but my nests were destroyed by 
Monomorium and I never got the chance to set up new ones. 
B. Fossores. 
Ammophila lugubris Gerst. (beniniensis Beauv.), its Prey 
and its Enemies. 
[Material :—Ammophila lugubris (Proc. Ent. Soc., 1918, 
p- exxxvi)—l @ labelled “No. 2.—30.v.1915,” accom- 
panied by the relatively large stone plug of its burrow 
and one of the Tachinid flies bred from its prey. The 
fly, which is labelled “ Tachinid fly, emerged 20.vi.15,” 
is the type of a new species described by Dr. Villeneuve on 
. 518 as Hilarella helva.| 
May 31, 1915.—Yesterday I saw a most interesting 
sight. A wasp, I think an Ammoplila, was dragging a 
Noctuid larva along the ground, with a view to burying it, 
and I stopped to watch her. Closely following her was a 
Chrysid. The wasp selected a place for a burrow and 
started digging, the Chrysid sittimg close at hand. This 
wasp digs a very shallow nest and soon proceeded to stow 
away the prey on which she oviposited, as I afterwards 
found. Instead of filling the nest with the excavated 
earth she came back with a small stone and was just about 
to place it when a small fly, most probably a Tachinid, 
for it happened so quickly that it was all over before I 
had time to attempt to catch it, swooped down and 
appeared to drop her egg or eggs on to the tail of the larva 
which was just visible. The wasp simply placed the small 
stone and went off to get another. As she was placing 
this I captured her. The Chrysid I lost. I dug out the 
larva and saw the wasp egg, but at the time saw no sign of 
the Tachinid egg. I did not do a careful examination, for 
. ~ fF =F *. 
4 s 
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