172 THE MOST GIFTED INSECT KACE. 



the nests of ants. If these lodgers were restricted to the 

 ant tribes it would still be a remarkable custom. But 

 not only do many ants act as lodgers, but beetles of 

 different kinds may be found there, most of them being 

 various species of rove-beetles (Stapliylinidce). The 

 beautiful rose-beetle, Cetonia aurata, is often to be found 

 there, and, in consequence of this habit, in some places is 

 called the King of the Ants. 



Neither is their hospitality confined to insects. The 

 common Yellow Ant, Formica flava, receives woodlice 

 into its nest. These rather unexpected guests live in 

 little chambers communicating by passages. If the nest 

 be laid open, even in the severest frosts, and the earth 

 removed to a depth of four inches or so, the woodlice 

 may be found in their apartments, having been perfectly 

 protected from the cold by the few inches of earth above 

 them. 



