MYBMECOPHILOUS NOTES FOR 1918. 25 



Foniiica ftisca L. — Mr. Leman gave me specimens of /'. I'liscn taken 

 at Church Stretton, in Shropshire, in September ; a new county record 

 for this ant. A colony of this species was observed situated in a 

 cavity at the foot of one of the posts supporting the porch at Ramnor 

 Lodge in the New Forest. At 12.30 on July 25th winged ? $ were 

 observed to emerge from the entrance to the galleries, and after run- 

 ning all about the porch to re-enter the nest. Though none were 

 actually seen to take to the wing, they were evidently preparing for the 

 marriage flight, which no doubt took place later in the day, as at 2.30 

 a 3- was captured flying in the sand pit near Matley Passage. 



Mr. Butterfield very kindly gave me a specimen of a Ceratopogon 

 bred from one of several pupae taken on the underside of a stone over 

 a fasca nest at Grassington, Yorks, on May 5th. As this fly seemed 

 to me to differ from the species (C myrmecophihis) which I always find 

 with the F. rufa, I submitted it to my friend Mr. J. Collin, who is of 

 the opinion that it is Ceratopogon braueri Wasmann, a species new to 

 Britain. Wasmann described it in 1893, having taken larvte, pupae, 

 and perfect insects in nests of F. fiisca at Vorarlberg. 



I believe Butterfield's specimen to be a gynandromorph, as the 

 antenna, and also the pubescence on each side of the body, differ ; 

 Collin, however, is not I believe convinced of this. Butterfield in 

 May, also at Grassington, found some 70 pupae of the Dipteron Micro- 

 don mntahilis on the underside of a stone measuring 16" x 12", situated 

 over a fasca nest. 



Formica fnsca var. glebaria Nyl. — Many nests of this variety were 

 found in the New Forest in July. One very interesting colony was in- 

 habiting a large sphagnum mound in Matley Bog, the galleries of the 

 nest leading right down through the sphagnum to chambers in the very 

 wet earth beneath. Some of the ^ ^ were very light in colour ; (3' ^ , 

 ^ larvfe and cocoons were present, but no winged 2 $ were seen, 

 and Beckia albina was the only myrmecophile found. k small 

 colony had established its nest by the side of a path through Denny 

 Bog, the mound over the nest being covered with tiny pebbles from 

 the path. Several large colonies were dwelling in large mounds by 

 the side of the railway ; these mounds being covered with little bits 

 of cinders (no doubt picked up by the ^ ^ on the line) which gave 

 them a curious black appearance. The brood of these colonies only 

 consisted of ^ larvfe, cocoons and naked pupae ; no sexes being found. 

 In one of them, on July 22nd, a Cynipid and three specimens of 

 Atenieles paradoxus were taken. This beetle, which has not been found 

 in the New' Forest before, is decidedly scarce in Britain ; the only 

 other localities known to me in which it has occurred are Folkestone, 

 Charlton, Bournemouth, Isle of Wight, Weston-super-Mare, Land's 

 End, and the Plymouth district. In the last-named locality it was 

 originally taken by Beading, and more recently by Keys, with whom 

 I have had the pleasure of finding it, and also alone. Very many 

 nests, however, had to be examined before a series could be ob- 

 tained. 



. Formica picea Nyl. — Several nests of this ant were found in the 

 original spot in Matley Bog, where I discovered it in 1914 {Brit. Ants, 

 p. 833), but on July 18th anew locality was found further in the Bog, 

 and here the ant was abundant. Over 20 nests were counted, 14 oc- 

 curring in the space of a few square yards, nearly every tussock among 



