24 



THE ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD. 



Thiasopliila angidata, Notothecta flavipes, N. anceps, Dinarda mdrkeli 

 (common), Oxypoda formiceticola, Myrmedonia humeralis, Quedius 

 brevis, Xantholiniis atratiis,'^ [0. ochraceus), Trichopteryx mo7itandoni,'^ 

 Myrmetes piceus, Dendrophiliis pygmaeus,'^~ Monotoma conicicollu. 



In nests qf Acanthomyops [Dendrolasius) fidiginostis : — 



Myrmedonia laticollis, M. humeralis, M. liuiens,^' Oxypoda vittata, 

 0. haemorrhna, Notothecta confusa--' (common), Quedius brevis, Amphotis 

 marginata, [Homalota circellaris), (H. fungi). 



With Acanthomyojjs (Chthonolasius) Jiavus : — 



Claviger testaceus. 



Formica rufa var. alpina Santschi. — Among some ants taken by 

 .Mr. G. A. J. Eothney, at St. Filans, Perth, in 1905, I detected speci- 

 mens of -P. rufa var. alpina ; a new locality for this variety. 



In August, this year, the Rev. J. W. Metcalfe sent me some ants to 

 name (from Rannoch), and told me that he and Mr. F. C. Whittle had 

 had a curious experience with regard to the little moth Myrmecozela 

 ochraceella and the particular nest from which these ants came. -They 

 had searched every nest of F. rufa they could find at all times of the 

 day with but small success, but when they found the nest in question 

 they took 45 ochraceella at the first examination ; a bag which was sub- 

 sequently considerably increased. The vast majority of the moths were 

 2 ? , so this was not a case of assembling. I found that the ants were 

 the var. alpina ; and it is the first record of the moth being taken with 

 this variety. It appears from what Mr. Metcalfe tells me, that the nest 

 occurred quite near to the locality at Rannoch where I first discovered 

 the ant in 1911. Later, Mr. Metcalfe very kindly gave me some of the 

 long " cases," or rather " runs," of the moths' larv^, consisting of bits 

 of the nest materials all fastened together. I had been unable to find 

 these when I captured the moth in 1900 and 1911. 



Formica sanguinea Latr. — On May 25th a very large populous 

 colony of F. sanguinea was found at Woking, situated in the stump of 

 a large fir tree. After the most careful search no fusca ^ ^ were 

 found in this nest. This is the first colony I have ever found, or 

 know of, in Britain in which no slaves whatsoever were found, A 

 small beetle flew up, and after hovering over the nest, settled on the 

 stump and endeavoured to enter one of the galleries ; it was captured 

 and proved to be a specimen of .Notothecta jiavipes, a species usually 

 found with F. rufa. 



The one pseudogyne colony which occurs at Woking (Brit. Ants, 

 p. 296) was also visited and found to be in a flourishing condition. It 

 contained 3 deiilated 5 ? , numerous ^ ^ and pseudogynes, but only 

 a few larvas were seen. This, however, was the case with all the 

 sanguinea colonies this year, as they appeared to be very late as regards 

 the brood. 



In 1917, and again this year, a number of normal ^ ^ have been 

 reared from eggs laid by the 5 in my pseudogyne observation nest 

 [Ent. Rec. 29, 49-50 (1917) | . As no pseudogynes have been produced 

 from the eggs of this female, taken in 1916 with some of her ^ ^ and 

 pseudogynes from a strongly infested colony, it shows at any rate that 

 pseudogynes are not the result of pathogenic conditions in the egg, or 

 mother queen. 



"•■•■ Those marked with an asterisk are new county records. 



