INSECTS 



The last family of Dragonflies, containing the more numerous but smaller species, is that 

 of the Agrionida. I only know of three species, the common Agrion puella, Linn., wiiicii is 

 abundant by most streams and ponds, Pyrrhosoma minium, also common at Gibside and else- 

 where, and Ischnura elegnns, Lind. 



Ephemeridtv^ox May-flics, Pcrlidie, or Stone-flies, such as Pala margimita, Nemoura variigata, 

 Chhroptrlu viridis, and many other species abound along all the numerous water-courses, as do 

 also the Sialida or Alderflies and the moth-like Tricboptera, or Caddis-flies, whose curious larva; 

 cases, composed of a variety of material according to the species, are very common in every pond 

 and stream. 



The Scorpion-fly, Panorpa communis, is very common everywhere, and the beautiful 

 Lacewing-fly, or Golden Eye, Chrysopa vulgaris, is often to be met with. Cbrysopa pcrla, 

 Megalomus hirtus, L., Hemerobius marginatus. Ephemera vulgata, Leptiphlebia marginata, L., 

 Leptocerus alhifrons, L., Rhyacophila dorsalis. Curt., and AnahoUa nervosa are also recorded locally 

 by Backhouse. 



HYMENOPTERA 



Although the most interesting of all the insect tribes, the Hymenoptera have had but 

 little attention paid to them in this county. What has been done has been chiefly in the 

 aculeate section, in which only loi species or varieties have so far been noted, while the Entomo- 

 phaga are almost a blank, and the Phytophaga have a list of only twenty-three names. Yet 

 there are nearly 400 Acuieata, about 600 Phytophaga, and a vast host of Entomophaga in the 

 British Isles, and no doubt Durham possesses its fair share for a northern county, but it waits 

 the advent of some painstaking entomologist to lay bare its riches in this deeply interesting 

 order. 



ACULEATA 



Ants, Wasps, and Bees 



This is the highest section of the order. Their habits, especially those of the Social 

 species, suggest the possession of something very like a reasoning faculty, and their life histories 

 abound in interesting details. The wonderful adaptations of the various parts to the different 

 needs of each species also supply numberless points of fascinating study. The following list 

 of local species is chiefly that of Bold, to which but a few species have been added in the last 

 fifty years. Only one or two call for special notice. The tiny little red ant Monomorium 

 pharaonis, Linn., although not a native, has become a pest in several parts of the county, and 

 especially in the Uipton district, where some of the miners' houses have been rendered 

 uninhabitable by its abundance, and the District Council have had to attempt its destruction. 

 They seem to be incapable of living away from inhabited houses. The rare ant Ponera 

 contracta, Latr., is said to have been taken at South Shields, where also Mutilla europaa, Linn., 

 has occasionally been found, both probj.bly introduced. Vespa austriaca, Pz., has been taken 

 at two places in the Derwent Valley by Mr. Robson of Birtley. As might be expected with 

 its cold northern situation and clayey soil, the county of Durham is weak in the section of the 

 sand wasps and solitary bees, whose habits require a light or sandy soil and the warm, sunny 

 south ; but it is strong in the more robust species, and nearly all the Bombi occur in the 

 county. 



HETEROGYNA 



FoRMICID/E 



Formica, Linn. 



— rufa, Linn. Common 



— fusca, Linn. Abundant 

 Lasius, Fab. 



— fulginosus, Latr. Not com- 



mon 



— flavus, Dc Gcer. Com- 



mon 



— niger, Linn. Not very 



common 

 Campanolus sylvaticus has been 

 taken alive at Bishop 

 Auckland in bananas 



P0NER1D« 



Ponera, Latr. 



— contracta, Latr. South 



Shields, very rare 

 Myrmicid* 

 Myrmica, Latr. 



— rubra, Linn. 



r. laevinodis, Nyl. The 

 commonest here 



r. ruginodis, Nyl. Abun- 

 dant 



r. scabrinodis, Nyl. 

 Common 



r. lobicornis, Nyl. South 

 Shields, rare 



95 



Myrmicid^ {continued) 

 Monomorium, Mayr 

 — pharaonis, Linn. Intro- 

 duced, but firmly estab- 

 lished 



FOSSORES 



MUTILLID^ 



Mutilla, Linn. 



— europxa, Linn. Has been 

 taken occasion.illy at 

 South Shields (Bold) and 

 Shull (Backhouse) 



