May, '03] 



ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 



149 



small ant as Monomorium mimitmn Mayr. , seems very strange 

 and is, perhaps, one of the most striking cases on record of a 

 myrmecophile which is so much longer than the ant with which 

 it makes its abode. 



Dr. Heath gives in a letter the following ethological note 

 concerning the relation with the Monormoriuni : ' ' When I 

 pulled over the stone under which this particular colony was 

 concealed, my attention was attracted by a hemispherical light 



Fig. 2. 



lemon-yellow colored mass, which was attached to the under- 

 side of the stone on the ceiling of one of the burrows. After 

 the first stages of confusion had passed, and I had shaded the 

 nest from the direct rays of the run, this body was the object 

 of much attention on the part of the ants. For fully half an 

 hour, from two to ten of them continually surrounded it or 

 mounted themselves upon it, moving their antennae with great 

 rapidity. Occasionally one would attempt to carry it to a place 

 of safety. This performance was continued for fully twenty 

 minutes after all the larvae had been transferred to a place of 

 safety." From this account it is plainly evident that these 

 huge and brilliantly colored animals live on quite peaceable 

 terms with their diminutive hosts. 



