106 



Pentaplatarthus I searched for early in the morning in a more laborious manner in 

 the ants' nests, until by accident an easier method was suggested. On one very hot 

 afternoon, between 4 and 5 o'clock, immediately before a thunder-storm, I saw in the 

 red sand of the roads, on a woody hill, a long train of anls busily running backwards 

 and forwards, and I remarked among them a Pentaplatarthrus gently led by its an- 

 tennae by several ants, which accompanied it in the common procession. My first idea 

 that it was forcibly held against its will I gave up, when, on this and following days, 

 I several times saw the same fact occur on the approach of a thunder-storm. T had 

 with me at the same limes a young Kaffir, an ardent and dexterous collector, and 

 when I told him what I had observed and seen confirmed, he stared with astonish- 

 ment at tbe strange escort, and cried out — 'By Tschaka (by tbe Great King)! the 

 ants have chiefs, and they lead them out to promenade.' In this manner, with the 

 assistance of this and two other Kaffir boys, I obtained a good many specimens of 

 Pent;iplatarlhrus, and a pair of another species of Paussidee.'' Herr Dohrn adds : — 



" So far Ilerr Guenzius. I have only to remark that among the collections of in- 

 sects received from him is a specimen of Pentaplatarthrus with an ant still attached 

 to it ; two other specimens of the same ant lay in the wadding in which the Paussidee 

 were packed, so it is probable that it is this species of ant with which Pentaplatarthrus 

 lives. It is red, with a silky shining body, and very much resembles our Formica ru- 

 fa, but is somewhat smaller. 



" I have no doubt that the Paussus Natalensis of the Berlin Museum, and the spe- 

 cies described under this name in the ' Proceedings of the Linnean Society' by Mr. 

 Westwood, are identical with P. 4-maculatus, Bitqiwt, (in litt.) Among a considera- 

 ble number of examples before me, some are simply red-brown, but by far the greater 

 number have a darker, nearly black, band across the middle of the elytra, wliich not 

 unfrequently extends along the suture so much that only four red-brown spots are left, 

 one at each angle of the elytra. I also agree with my friend Westwood (Proc. Linn. 

 Soc. June 19, 1849), that P. Natalensis is synonymous with P. Paussoides." 



Mr. Douglas read tbe following extracts from a letter he had received from Mr. 

 Weaver, dated Corrie, Rannoch, August 22nd. 



" The larva? of the rose-beetle (Cetonia ecnea) I discovered here, live for three years 

 in ants' nests, and feed on the ants' eggs, of which they devour great quantities, which 

 I learned by keeping and feeding some therewith for several months. I have seen 

 them of all ages, and although exposed to thousands of ants, I never saw them mo- 

 lested. I have seen the beetle alight on a large ants' nest, and dive into it without 

 fear to deposit its eggs. The larva changes to pupa within a cone of its own making, 

 but still within the ants' nest." 



" With respect to Tinea ochraceella, I believe that its larvae feed in the ants' nest, for 

 I always rout the insect out of the nest, and it has no disposition to fly away from it." 



Part 6 of the new volume of the Society's Transactions was announced as ready. 



The following is a condensed account of the American currant-moth (Abraxas P 

 Ribearia), from the pamphlet presented to the Society by the author, Dr. Asa Fitch. 



" We have in Eastern New York a moth, which will rank as the compeer of the 

 European Abraxas Grossulariata in destructiveness, though varying from it somewhat 

 in its habits, and in the characters which it presents, both in its larva and perfect 

 state. 



" Soon after the middle of May, when the currant and gooseberry bushes have be- 

 come well clothed with leaves, the larva appears upon them. It is of a lively light 



