330 BRITISH ANTS. 



the top of one of these tussocks was a nest, in the shape of a cone, 

 composed of very small bits of dried grass. It was about 9 inches 

 high, and 4-5 inches wide at the base, the whole supported by the 

 blades of tussock grass on the sides, while some of the blades sprang 

 out from the top, forming a sort of pillar in the middle of the 

 nest." 26 



Arnold's " moss " between and below the tussocks would be 

 sphagnum, and I suspect a part of the nest also consisted of sphag- 

 num. 



Saunders showed me a sketch of this nest which Arnold had 

 made, but he unfortunately suggested that it was only constructed 

 in this manner, on account of the nature of the ground in which 

 it happened to occur, whereas these are the habits and situation 

 peculiar to picea, and it is a splendid instance of the help that 

 biology can give to the systematist. 



On July 23rd, 1912, Crawley and I visited Matley Bog specially 

 to hunt for nests of Formica picea ; the part of the ground we ex- 

 plored was very dry at the time, but a colony of ants was discovered 

 deep in a clump of sphagnum, which we at once recognized as this 

 species on account of their very shining appearance. A number 

 of workers and large cocoons were secured the latter hatched at 

 the end of July and the beginning of August and all proved to be 

 males but no females, nor queen, were found 34 . 



Allen told me the specimen of picea he sent to me from Rhosilli 

 in 1913 was taken in a marshy spot. 



In January, 1914, Bonner, and in February, 1914, Adlerz, inde- 

 pendently published papers on this interesting species, the one 

 calling it a "Moorameise," 36 the other " Torfmossarnas Myra." 38 



On September 9th, 1912, -the former author found an ants' nest 

 in a " Torfmoor (Sphagnum) " at Lyngbymoor, two hours from 

 Copenhagen, which he thought belonged to F. gagates, but Was- 

 mann told him it was F. picea ; and in July, 1913, they together 

 visited the same locality. 



This spot appears to be most admirably suited to picea, as 

 Bonner says that at least one hundred and fifty nests occur in an 

 area of two hundred metres long by eighty broad. 



To get at the nests it is necessary to walk up to the ankles in 

 water, the bog quaking, and if one stands still one sinks deeper, as 

 where it is dry no nests occur, though they are not found in the 

 very wettest parts where one would sink altogether ; but the largest 

 and most populous nests were often found on a higher and drier 

 spot, which was merely surrounded by water. 



The nests he found, which consisted of white hillocks composed 

 of the leaves and stems of sphagnum collected together, varied 

 from the size of a tennis-ball to half a " qm." most nests measured 

 one to two "dm." in diameter and part of the nest was always 

 situated five to seven 



