ANTS, THEIR GUESTS AND THEIR LODGERS 89 



given off by them. These beetles are fairly 

 numerous and belong to several quite distinct 

 families ; the one which perhaps is amongst the 

 most interesting is a creature called Lomechusa 

 strumosa. This insect has rather an interesting 

 history in connexion with our British fauna. 

 It used to be considered as an indigenous insect, 

 but so many years passed without any one find- 

 ing it, that the old records were suspected as 

 doubtful, and it was removed from the list 

 of British species. In 1906, however, it was 

 rediscovered near Woking in a nest of Formica 

 sanguined (pi. A, 1, 2, 3), one of the large red ants, 

 by Mr. H. Donisthorpe. The life-history of 

 Lomechusa is a very curious one : it is taken great 

 care of by the ants, and its larvae are even placed 

 by them with their own, on which it feeds. Its 

 numbers are kept down apparently by the over- 

 zeal of the ants to take care of them. The ants 

 bring their own pupse up frequently to obtain 

 light and air and with them it brings up the 

 Lomechusa pupae this seems not to suit the latter 

 and results in the death of many of them. It is 

 a most interesting case of how a due balance can 

 be maintained, and what might prove an enemy 



