402 [Proc. B.N.F.C.^ 



tributed through the nest with due regard to variations of 

 moisture and temperature, since both these affect development. 

 When the larvae hatch out they are fed and tended till full 

 grown ; they then spin cocoons, within which they become 

 pupae, and when the perfect insect is ready to emerge the work- 

 ers bite away the enclosing cocoon. Some of them are work- 

 ers, others winged males and females, which fly about in 

 swarms. After mating, the large majority of the swarming 

 individuals perish, but some of the females survive to found 

 fresh communities, or sometimes to be taken into existing nests. 

 The stings of wood ants are not sufficiently developed to be of 

 use, but their poison-bags contain formic acid, which can be 

 squirted to a considerable distance, and is an effective defence. 

 After examination of the ant hills, the members 

 dispersed among the woods and round the lake till 

 five o'clock, when the return journey was commenced. 

 The botanists of the party reported the following among 

 the more interesting plants observed: — Centaury (Ery- 

 thraea centaurium), yellow loosestrife (Lysimachia vulgaris), 

 gipsywort (Lycopus Europaeus), skullcap (Scutellaria galeri- 

 culata), dog's mercury (Mercurialis perennis), reedmace (Typha 

 latifolia), and Equisetum sylvaticum. Ferns were found grow- 

 ing in profusion about the margins of the woods, principally 

 the lady fern (Athyrium filix-foemina), the broad buckler fern 

 (Lastrea dilatata), and the hand fern (Blechnum spicant), and 

 many species of fungus were collected for further examination. 

 The ornithological members had a list of 29 species of birds 

 noted, among them being four of the summer visitants — wheat- 

 ear, willow-wren, swallow, and sand-martin — which have not all 

 left this country as yet. At Annagarriff Lake a flock of cor- 

 morants was observed, which was estimated to consist of about 

 100 birds. Some fine specimens of dragonflies were noted, and 

 several butterflies and moths, all of which proved of common 

 species. Only one species of the mollusca was reported, one 

 of the coil-shelLs (Planorbis), but none of the members present 

 were experts in conchology ; and this excursion presented a 

 feature, probably unique in recent years, in the utter absence of 



