Insects. 7409 



Capture of Slaphylinus stercorarius amongst Ants. — I have this year (1860) taken 

 Staphjlinus stercorarius in the nests of Myrmica laevinodis. This Myrmica is exceed- 

 ingly abundant near the large hallast heap at South Shields, and forms its nest beneath 

 stones. In these nests, or in their immediate vicinity, the Staphylinus is to be found 

 in August and September. The presence of Coleopterous insects in ants' nests is a 

 curious circumstance, and one which, I think, still requires elucidation. In the present 

 case it is probable — allhough I could not certainly determine — that lh%y feed upon 

 the inmates of the nest, for of fourteen specimens taken seven are imperfect, hut only 

 iu a slight degree, wanting a few joints of an antenna, a claw, or a joint or tw-o of a 

 tarsus, seldom a whole foot. Does not this condition raiher infer that ihey suflfer these 

 slight mutilations in battling with the ants, which, in self-defence, would be likely 

 enough to seize their enemies by these their only vulnerable parts? That other spe- 

 cies so treat intruders I was once an eye-witness. In turning over a stone, beneath 

 which was a nest of Formica fusca, I disturbed a pair of Platysma niger, one of which, 

 to escape me, ran amongst the ants. However, this was " out of the frying-pan iuto 

 the fire," for the ants rushed upon him from all sides, like little bull-dogs, and he 

 disappeared in the adjoining herbage with a crowd of them dangling at his legs and 

 antenniE. — Thomas John Bold, in ' Transactions of the Tyneside Naturalists' Field 

 Club,' iv. 334. 



Capture of Ocypus aler on the Banks of the Wansheck. — I have this season (1860) 

 found Ocypus ater in some abundance on the banks of the Wansheck. Starting from 

 Sheepwash, I examined the north bank of the river down to the sea, finding amongst 

 other things this conspicuous insect. It began to occur about half a mile above the 

 railway viaduct at North Seaton, and all the way down to Cambois, not occurring, 

 however, on the sea-coast. It lives beneath stones and amongst rejectamenta, near 

 high-water mark. The time was near the middle of September. Previous to this 

 only two specimens, to my knowledge, had occurred within our district, — at Tyne- 

 mouth and Whitley, — and these were taken thirteen years ago. — Id, 



Discovery of two Species of Plilium new to the British Fauna, and the Description 

 of a new Species of that Genus. — I am indebted to my friend Mr. Waterhouse for the 

 pleasure of announcing the discovery of two species not previously included in the list 

 of our indigenous Trichopterygidae. One of them, Ptilium inquilinum,has for some 

 time past been known on the Continent, and is well described and figured in Gill- 

 meisler's ' Monograph ;' it is therefore unnecessary to do more than simply to record 

 its occurrence in Eugland. Its companion will require a more careful notice : this 

 insect belongs to a species hitherto undescribed, as far as my acquaintance with the 

 family extends, and is conspicuous among its allies, both for the elegance of its shape 

 and for the distinctness of its sculpture. It must be placed in that section of the 

 genus Ptilium which includes P. canaliculatum, P. coesum, P. inquilinum, &c., all 

 of which exhibit three dorsal channels, or rather lines, on the thorax ; but while in 

 every one of the above-named the lines on each side of the central channel are so 

 faint as to be scarcely perceptible except in a favourable light, in this species they are 

 very deeply and strongly marked, and may easily be seen under a simple lens of no 

 very high power ; and, moreover, in all the other species the lines in question are 

 oblique, converging towards the central line at one or the other of their extremities ; 

 but in this alone they are perfectly parallel to the intermediate line, and confined to the 

 disk of the thorax, not reaching to either margin. The successful exertions of Mr. 

 Waterhouse have now added three most interesting species to the list of the British 



VOL. XIX. Q 



