32 THE entomologist's recobd. 



revived, however, when introduced into a damp " Janet " nest, and 

 they and the queen are all well to-day, although no eggs have been 

 observed to be laid. 



I append a description of the male : — 



i ^Dcep blackish brown, shining ; tarsi yellowish ; club of antenna and articu- 

 lations of joints of legs yellowish-brown. 



Head striate longitudinally, closely punctured between the strise, with a deep 

 impression on front, just above median ocellus; antennce with scape slightly bent, 

 short, not longer than the first three joints of funiculus taken together, funiculus 

 slender, with a more or less 5-jointed club. Thorax: mesonotum smooth and 

 shining between the Mayrian fiarrows ; scutum towards base and scutellum longi- 

 tudinally striate ; epinotum rather widely longitudinally striate, with somewhat 

 sharply pointed tubercles, space between smooth and shining. Petiole finely 

 punctured ; post-petiole smooth and shining. Legs slender. Wings as in ? . 

 Long. 5mm. 



From M. lobicornis it may be at once recognised by the much 

 shorter scape of the antennae ; from M. scahrinodh and the var. sabideti 

 it may be known by its more strongly and closely punctured, less 

 shining head, considerably less stout antennae and legs, and shorter 

 exserted hairs on the tibiae and other parts. 



CAMPONOTINiE. 



Acanthoinyops [Dendrolasius) fiiliginosas Latr. A colony of this 

 ant had been established for some years in a decayed gate-post in my 

 friend Mr, Morice's garden at Woking. Having decided to put in a 

 new post, he asked me to come down and stay with him and help dig 

 up the old one. Accordingly, on May 7th, I went down to ^Yoking and 

 assisted in digging it up. 



Very little carton occurred, it only being present round the bottom 

 of the post underground, and in a few of the cracks in the wood. The 

 wood in the centre of the post was not decayed, but was tunnelled by 

 numerous borings and cracks, and here the bulk of the ants and their 

 larvae were housed. A queen, with very distended gaster, was found in 

 a small hollow under a knot in the centre of the post, surrounded by a 

 large court of ^ ^ . The queen was taken home with a large number 

 oi 'i ^ , myrmecophiles, and pieces of wood from the post. She was 

 established in a large four-chambered " Janet " nest with ^ ^ and bits 

 of wood, and the rest of the wood, ants, etc., were placed in a very large 

 glass bowl. From this bowl the nest was reinforced from time to time 

 with ^ ^ , larvae-, and myrmecophiles, which collected under the pieces 

 of wood. 



A number of privet petals were found in and around the post, and 

 Morice told me he had often observed the ants carrying these fallen petals 

 towards their nest and taking them down the holes and cracks round 

 the bottom of the post. What the reason for this was I do not know, 

 unless these petals were used in some way in the construction of 

 carton. 



The following myrmecophiles were found when digging up the post, 

 or bred later in the bowl : — Coleoptera: Myrmedonia funesto, scajvce; 

 M. laticollis, bred in some numbers later ; Amphotis marginata, in very 

 great numbers, all sizes. Acarina : Antennophorns grandis, common on 

 the ants ; Laelaps cuneifer, not uncommon ; Trachyiiropoda bostocki, in 

 fair numbers ; trodiscella philoctena, not common, on the strigils of the 

 ants, in a few instances one occurred on both strigils of a single ant. 



