MYRMECOPHILOUS NOTES FOR 1916. 31 



complete transition exists between the normal ^ and normal 9 , and 

 he states he considers a form captured by Kutter at the foot of the Alps 

 in Switzerland, and described by Forel as a new species — M. kutteri 

 [Mitt. Schweiz. Ent. Ges., 12, 21 (1916)] is in fact one of these in- 

 termediate forms, and should be regarded as an aberration of M. 

 graiinnicola. 



I sincerely trust it will never become a recognised practice to ilame 

 aberrations in ants ! Of course it was not intended in this case, but 

 should such a fashion arise it would encumber our nomenclature with 

 names without end, 



Mi/riJiica laevinodis Nyl. On October 11th I captured in my garden 

 at Putney an ergatandromorph of this species ; my attention being 

 drawn to the ant by the curious "jerky " manner in which it walked. 

 I ha.ve now drawn up the following description :— 



Mixed Ergatandromorph. 



Head, thorax, first segment of gaster, and a streak on left anterior, right inter- 

 mediate and two posterior femora blackish-brown, all the rest of insect pale yellowish- 

 red. General appearance worker. 



Head chiefly g , right side slightly more swollen, and right eye a little larger 

 than left ; two ocelli present (median and left lateral) ; antennm 12-jointed, §. 

 Thorax : pronotum distinct ; niesonotum high, but not as broad as in ordinary (f , 

 more swollen on right side, with a short chitinous tubercle similar to the vestigial 

 wings to be found on pterergates, bounded at base by a deep hollow, where the 

 scutellum of the g would be ; right Mayrian furrow present ; epinvtum long as in 

 i , furnished with 5 spine on left side, and s tubercle on right. Petiole and 

 post-petiole 2 ; gaster with 4 segments, slightly more swollen on right side. Legs 

 5 . Long. 5mm. 



This is the 85th gynandromorphous ant yet recorded, the 9th 

 British specimen, the 9th Mynmca, and the 8th specimen described by 

 me. For a complete list of these curious pathological phases, previous 

 to the one just recorded, see Ent. Rec, 27, 259-60 (1915). 



Myriiiica scabrinodis Nyl., var. sabuleti Mein. On June 17th a 

 large colony of this variety was found at Bewdley, situated in one half 

 of a mound constructed by Acanthomyops {Chthonolasius) -flavus. This is 

 the first record of this variety for Worcestershire. 



Mijrmica schencki Emery. On September 15th I went to stay with 

 my friend Mr. Hallett, at Penarth, and the next day he kindly con- 

 ducted me to the bank at Sully where he discovered this species new to 

 Britain in 1915 [Ent. Rec, 27, 265-6 (1915) ; Tnms. Cardif, Nat. 

 Sac, 48, 78 (1916)] . 



After some search three colonies were found in different parts of the 

 bank. Evidently the marriage flight had occurred previously, as no 

 winged 5 $ were found, and only ^ pupte and larvfe were present. 

 Fortunately, however, two (? <? were secured, as this sex had not 

 previously been found in Britain. A dealated $ , and a number of 

 ^ ^ were collected alive for observation purposes. The only myrme- 

 cophile present was Beckia albinos. 



When I arrived home, on September 22nd, most of the ^ ^ ap- 

 peared to be quite dead, no doubt on account" of the want of air in the 

 rather small bottle in which they had been placed. Nearly all of them 



