THE GUESTS OF ANTS AND TERMITES. 41 



As Mr. Morley says, Suffolk is classic ground for students of the 

 Aculeate Hymenoptera, for no fewer than 54 out of the 158 species of 

 bees mentioned in his list are, and will be known throughout the 

 length and breadth of their distribution in Europe, by the names given 

 to them by Kirby, and almost all of these were described from speci- 

 mens captured by him at Barham, in Suffolk. The great joint author 

 of the "Introduction to Entomology" did a great honour to the 

 science of what Mr. Morley calls " Anthophilology," in selecting it as 

 his chief study, and his reason for doing this, quoted by Mr. Morley in 

 his preface, is interesting. It was that " in no department of the 

 animal kingdom is the divine wisdom so eminently conspicuous," 

 and here most collectors of the present day who have dipped into the 

 pleasures of wild-bee hunting will be inclined to heartily agree with 

 our much respected predecessor. 



The Guests of Ants and Termites*. 



By E. WASMANN, S.J. (translated by H. DONISTHOEPE, F.Z.S., F.E.S.). 



" Wer zahlt die Volker, nennt die Namen, 

 Die gastlich hier zusammenkamen ? " 



The thoughtful naturalist finds in the study of the guests of ants 

 and termites many interesting biological problems, and the further he 

 advances in his researches, the more fully are his pains rewarded by 

 neAV and unexpected discoveries. The science which treats of Myrme- 

 cophilous and Termitophilous insects is a comparatively new one, yet 

 one may affirm that few branches of biology have yielded such 

 marvellous results. Ants and termites are not such inaccessible and 

 impatient beings as they are generally represented to be, and in every 

 zone, the nests of these social insects are found to contain guests 

 belonging to various classes of animals, whilst the relation of these to 

 their hosts is of various kinds. Symbiosis presents itself here under 

 various aspects, amongst which real hospitality (Myrmekoxenie and 

 Termitoxenie) , and relations of friendship (Symphilie) take first 

 rank, and as far as we can tell are unequalled elsewhere in the animal 

 kingdom. 



The habits of the guests of ants and termites cover such a wide 

 field and comprise so many different elements that it is difficult to 

 give a short yet comprehensive view of them. The workf published by 

 me three years ago on the different kinds of Myrmecophilous and 

 Termitophilous insects then comprised 125 of the former and 109 of 

 the latter ; these, however, form but a fraction of the individuals 

 hidden in the nests of tropical ants and jealously guarded by their 

 armed gaolers. New and interesting discoveries are continually 

 coming to light in Madagascar, India, Brazil, Cape Colony, and other 

 distant countries, and the description of new species alone occupies 

 considerable time. 



In the fullest sense, Myrmecophilous and Termitophilous animals 

 include all the regular companions of these social insects. Chance 

 visitors to their nests are necessarily excluded. So great is the number 



* Extracts from E. Wasmann's " Die Gaste der Ameisen und Termiten," Illus. 

 Zeit. f. Ent., 1898, Heft 10-16. 



t " Kritisches Verzeichniss der Myrmekophilen uud Termitophilen Arthropo- 

 den," 1894. 



