Aleochaeini.- 



-INSECTS.- 



-PSELAPHID^. 



209 



nine British species of the family Oxijtelidce. Our figure 

 (fig. 70) shows one of tlie Bledii group. 



We now come to a strange-looking set of Staphy- 

 liuidse, remarkable for their very singularly developed 



Fig. 71. 



Splrachtha Eurymedusa — Beetle of White ants' nest. 



alidomen. Professor Schibdte of Copenhagen, who 

 visited London in 1856, being much interested in the 

 habits of those insects, asked Professor Reinhardt to 

 collect for him any insects he niiglit find in the nests 

 of the white anfs, during his travels in Brazil. Accord- 

 ingly, when collecting near Santa Lagoa in the province 

 of Minas-Geraes, he came on the nests of a Termes. 

 In the nests Professor Reinhardt met with three 

 minute species of insects, which he sent to our 

 Copenhagen naturalist, who saw that they consisted 

 of three species of insects of the group Ahocliarini, 

 two forming his genus Corotoca,* Corotoca Melantho, 

 and Corotoca Phijlo; to the other he gave the name 

 Sjiirachtha Eurymedusaf (see our figures copied from 

 Schiiidte's work). In the former the maxillary palpi 

 are four -jointed ; in Spiracththa these palpi have 

 only three joints ; in the latter the fonr-jointed tarsi 

 liave the three first joints equal in length, while the 

 first joint of tarsi in Corotoca is very much elon- 

 gated. In SpiracJitha, at least in the females, the 

 abdomen is membranaceous and very much broken, the 

 anterior part is globose, fixed to the hind part, and 

 having ou each side three membranaceous appendages, 

 which are thread-shaped and two-jointed. The wings 



Fig. 72. 



Corotoca Melantho.— Beetle found in uest of White ant. 



are ample, and ciliated slightly on the borders. The Spi- 

 rachtha is rarer apparently than the others. 



In the nests of that common British wood-ant, 



Vol. n. 



' KtfJJJ TIXTC. 



t S»ll{«J;C>lf. 



Formica rufit, may be found, in the month of May, a 

 little reddi,sh notched beetle, with short elytra called 

 Dinarda McBrlcelii. 



Another species, much smaller than D. Mccrkelii 

 and called D. dentata, was found by Mr. Reading, near 

 Plymouth, in nest of Formica fusca, but it seems to 

 be very rare. (Figure on Plate 3, fig. 18, Lomechusa 

 dentata.) Mr. Janson believes that the Dinardce and 

 most of the other ants' nest beetles feed on the excre- 

 ment of the ants, or on some of the numerous parasites 

 which invariably infest the nests. 



That ants, though in general hostile to their fellow 

 insects, are very friendly to others, has long been 

 known, although it is only within the last few 

 years that observers on the Continent have ascer- 

 tained that there are nearly fifty species of Coleoptera, 

 which pass at least a portion of their lives exclusively 

 in the nests of various ants. 



Mr. Janson gives the following list of Myrmecophi- 

 lous Coleoptera" with the name of the species of ant 

 with which they are usually associated. 



Trichonyx Mferkelii, Formica flava. 



Claviger testaceus, " flava, and F. fusca. 



Myrmedonia canaliculata,. . " flava, and Slyrmica rubra. 



" limbata " flava, and F. fulifinosa. 



" huineralis, ... . '* nifa. 



" cognata, " fuliginosa. 



" funesta, " fnliginosa. 



" laticollis, " fuliginosa. 



'* lugens " fuliginosa. 



" Hawortlii, " rufa. 



" collaris, Myrmica rubra. 



Ilomalota flavipes, Formica rufa. 



" confusa, " fuliginosa. 



** anceps " rufa. 



O.xypoda vittata, " fuliginosa. 



*' ha^morrhcea, " rufa. 



*' formiceticola " rufa. 



.\leochara ruficornis, " fusca. 



Tbiasophila angulata, " rufa. 



Ilomceusa acuminata " fusca. 



Dinarda Mffirkelii " nifa. 



Lomecbusa strumosa, " rufa. 



Atemeles paradoxus, " fusca. 



" emarginatus, .... " fusca, and Myrmica rubra. 



Leptacinus formicetorum,. . '' rufa. 

 Stapbylinns latebricola, .... Myrmica rubra. 



Qucdius brevis, Formica rufa. 



Hetairius sesquicornis, " fusca, and F. flava. 



Deudropbilus punctatus, ... " rufa. 



" pygmffius,.... " rufa, 



Saprinus piceus, " rufa. 



Amphotis marginata, '* fuliginosa. 



Larvai of Cetonia aurata, "1 



and Clytbra quadripunc- V " rufa. 



tata, ) 



Monotoma conicicollis, " rufa. 



" angusticolUs, " rufa. 



Familt-PSELAPHID^. 



A family of beetles of very small size, may 

 be briefly alluded to. They are small and have 

 remarkable antenna?, and palpi. Their thorax 

 F is small, and the elytra do not cover the 

 abdomen. There are thirty species recorded in the 

 latest British list. These species belong to the genera 

 Batrisus, Pselaphvs, Bryaxls, Bytliinus, Tychus, Tri- 

 chonyx, Euplectus, Trimmium, and Claviger. Here, too, 



* A few species have been subsequently added to this list by 

 the indefatigable exertions of Dr. Power, and every year adds 

 to the number. 



2P 



