FORMICA. 269 



and I have examined the inhabitants of great numbers of wood-ants' 

 nests at Porlock, all of which were pure rufa. 



Parfitt says he met with two small nests of congerens in Stoke 

 Wood near Exeter in September, 1879 29 , but I have seen no 

 specimens in any collection from Devonshire, and neither Bignell 

 nor Keys ever found it in that county ; moreover I have had 

 specimens of rufa sent to me from near Exeter with the remark 

 that these ants are the commonest species in the woods in that 

 neighbourhood. 



F. pratensis certainly used to occur more commonly near Bourne- 

 mouth, as there are many specimens in the Dale and F. Smith 

 collections from that locality, but it had not been found there for 

 many years, until I found a single colony in June, 1914. I have 

 examined hundreds of wood-ants' nests in that neighbourhood all 

 of which with the exception of the one just mentioned have proved 

 to belong to F. rufa. 



F. Smith writes (of pratensis} in 1866 " This is the common 

 wood-ant at Bournemouth ; I have not yet found F. rufa there " 19 

 but he had already recorded taking F. rufa (as well as F. pratensis] 

 at Bournemouth in August, 1864 17 ! 



Farren-White also states " The former (F. congerens} is the 

 common wood-ant of Bournemouth . . . the common wood-ant 

 (F. rufa} is very rare at Bournemouth." 35 



Bignell in 1882 refers to Farren- White's remarks and says 

 " Since the above was written, the writer had occasion to pass 

 through Bournemouth, and having four hours to spare visited 

 a pine-wood about a mile from the town, saw only one ant-hill, and 

 brought away twenty-one workers from it, which are certainly 

 F. rufa." 31 



It would seem that the latter has nearly replaced F. pratensis in 

 this locality. 



It is best to regard the British distribution of F. pratensis as 

 follows, until further records are forthcoming : 



Dorset: Morden near Bloxworth (Haines}. 



Hants, S. : Bournemouth (F. Smith) 16 . 



Northumberland, S. : Corbridge (Donisthorpe}* 1 . 



Cumberland : Lodore, Derwent Water (Wheeler). 



Mid Perth : Rannoch (F oxer of t}^. 



Easterness : Nethy Bridge (F. X. King}. 



F. pratensis is very like F. rufa in many ways and has similar 

 habits, but as Schenck pointed out in 1852, it is not quite so fierce, 

 and does not spray its acid so easily 10 , and Forel says it has more 

 need of sun, and can put up with a greater degree of drought 23 . 



On the Continent it prefers to nest in meadows, fields, and along 

 the borders of woods and hedges, indeed De Geer stated pratensis 

 only occurs in fields and not in woods 1 , and Andre also gives fields, 



