Species of British Formicidce. 97 



distinguishes the difference in their metamorphosis. Of the red 

 Ants he says, " tliey do not, like the rest, infold themselves in a 

 tissue or shell ;" he also notices " two sizes of workers, and that the 

 red Ants are furnished with a sting ; these observations were made 

 previous to the publication of the " Fauna Suecica" of Linnaeus. 



Of the number of species which inhabit Great Britain, we are, 

 I believe, at present ignorant. The publication of Nylander's work 

 has directed our attention more particularly to this point, and 

 several new species have been discovered, but when the remote 

 and Alpine districts of Scotland shall have been well explored, 

 doubtless many others will be found ; I am acquainted with twenty, 

 whilst only thirteen of those given in the Systematic Catalogue by 

 Stephens are indigenous and distinct. My observations on the 

 habits of Ants would add little to what has already been made 

 known by Gould, Huber and others; indeed, so much has been 

 done by the naturalists named, that it will only be necessary, in 

 some points, to add my testimony to the accuracy of the more 

 remarkable peculiarities in their economy, as detailed in the works 

 of the authors alluded to. 



As a general rule, we may observe, that it is only the species 

 of the genus Formica which in the pupa state are enclosed in a 

 cocoon spun by the larva ; those belonging to the genus Myrmica 

 do not spin a cocoon. It is a trite remark, that every rule has its 

 exception, and such is the case with these genera. I have occa- 

 sionally observed, during the months of July and August, pupas 

 of Formica fusca not enclosed in cocoons, and such pupae in 

 various stages of maturity ; I have also observed the same of the 

 pupae of F.fuliginosa, great numbers of which I found in channels 

 constructed under the bark of a decaying birch tree. 



The closest observation has not enabled me to trace the larvae 

 of Ants continuing in that form, "about a year and a quarter," 

 as stated by Gould ; indeed, I have never been able to find any 

 larvffi in the nests of F. rufat or F. fusca, after the end of autumn ; 

 but as regards colonies o{ F.flava and F. nigra, larvse will fre- 

 quently be found in the depth of winter : these are carried by the 

 workers into the deepest chambers of their dwellings ; and it is a 

 remarkable circumstance, that the larvse of F.flava, which pass 

 the winter in that state, are densely covered with pubescence ; I 

 have also found numbers of a dark-coloured Aphis in chambers 

 apart from the torpid larvse of the Ants, in the depth of winter. 

 Much attention has been paid to the subject of insects found in 

 Ants' nests, many of those enumerated being merely casual or 



VOL. III. N. S. PART m. JAN. 1855. H 



