322 BRITISH ANTS. 



Six varieties of this species have been described, two of which 

 live in North America. 



British distribution : 



Surrey: Reigate (Frisby) Ripley (Arnold) 36 ; Chobham 

 (Saunders) ; Weybridge (Donisthorpe)* 1 . 



Wheeler considers Formica rufibarbis F. to be a good species 42 , 

 and not a subspecies of F. fusca L., as its habits, its instincts, and 

 its behaviour when alive, are quite different. 



It is more agile, fearless, and warlike than the varieties of fusca, 

 not being a cowardly species like fusca, and it possesses a distinct 

 aromatic odour, which is also present in the American forms. 

 Forel says in Switzerland it loves dry slopes, and lives in meadows, 

 on the borders of roads, in uncultivated places, very rarely in 

 gardens ; but it does not nest near houses, and never occurs in 

 woods 21 . 



This species is well called the mining ant by Huber 7 , as it nests 

 in the ground ; it has been recorded as living under stones, and 

 sometimes constructing small earth-mounds, but I suspect the 

 two latter situations really refer to the var. rubescens of fusca, and 

 Emery distinctly states it nests under the ground without any earth 

 construction above 37 . 



I have found rufibarbis at Weybridge, nesting in sandy banks, 

 on the borders of paths, and under turf and herbage. 



The nest, which is often very difficult to find on account of its 

 hidden nature, is situated about a foot below the surface of the 

 ground, and the entrance consists of a small hole, sometimes con- 

 cealed by a tuft of grass, or herbage. 



A small chamber at the bottom of the nest contains the queen, 

 or queens, and galleries all lead to the single entrance above ground. 



This very active species lives an open-air life, and possesses more 

 individual initiative than F. rufa ; its workers hunt singly, catching 

 flies and other insects, and they never forage in troops, nor execute 

 joint excursions. 



Frisby records their visiting flowers, and being especially partial 

 to the flower-heads of Heracleum and other umbelliferous plants 34 , 

 and I have seen workers basking in the sun on the leaves of 

 brambles. 



The workers are very audacious and will even endeavour to rob 

 rufa of its prey holding on and pulling and the moment the 

 rufa lets go, to get a better grip, or to attack the rufibarbis, the 

 latter swiftly decamps with the prize ; and should a rufa grasp it 

 by a leg or an antenna, it remains quite still, and when its opponent 

 loosens its grip, the better to kill it, it quickly slips away. 



This species finds its way by sight alone, as it does not follow 

 beaten tracks, and when it has captured a booty it returns in a 

 straight line to the nest. Wasmann records that on May 10th, 

 1907, in a garden at Luxemburg, he observed two workers, the 



