140 BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST., 7: 1994 



points were associated with vein endings, as possibly shown in the photograph, and 

 that they were feeding on flowing rather than crystallized sap. 



That ants feed on plant secretions, in the form of nectar from flowers and extrafloral 

 nectaries, is well known as is their indirect feeding on sap which has passed through 

 the digestive tract of aphids and excreted in the form of honeydew (Kirby & Spence, 

 1818; Westwood, 1840; Brian, 1977; Collingwood, 1979; Gauld & Bolton, 1988). 

 However, I am unable to find any reference to ants feeding directly on plant sap. 



Mr A. J. Halstead informs me that there is a photograph in the archives of the 

 R. H. S. Garden at Wisley showing an unnamed yellowish-brown ant damaging 

 the leaf margins and petals of a glasshouse plant, Cathyranthus roseus, and he 

 tells me that he has also seen large numbers of the ant Lasius fuliginosus (Latr.) 

 nibbling the edge of flower petals on Rosa 'Maigold' at Wisley on 2.vii.l976. 

 Interestingly, he found similar damage being caused to another specimen of this rose 

 variety by the wasp Vespula vulgaris (L.) on 26. ix. 1974, so it may have particularly 

 sweet petals. 



Ants are by no means unknown as herbivores (in the widest sense): in the New 

 World, leaf-cutter ants (tribe Attini) eat the fungus that they culture on the cut leaves 

 with which they stock their nests, and in the Old World, harvester ants (Messor spp.) 

 feed on seeds. I am surprised, therefore, to find no reference to this behaviour 

 anywhere in the literature, given that Lasius niger is so commmon a garden species 

 and that horticulturalists are so aware of other minor pests on their plants. 



Acknowledgements 



I thank Mr A. J. Halstead for commenting on a draft of this paper and for allowing 

 me to quote his very interesting observations. 



References 



Brian, M. V. 1977. Ants. The new naturalist. London, Collins, pp. 48-70. 



Collingwood, C. A. 1979. The Formicidae (Hymenoptera) of Fennoscandia and Denmark. Fauna 



Ent. Scand. 8: 17. 

 Gauld, I. & Bolton, B. 1988. The Hymenoptera. London, NHM & OUP, p. 240. 

 Kirby, W. & Spence, W. 1818. An introduction to entomology: or elements of the natural history 



of insects. London, Longman et al., Vol. 2, pp. 88-95. 

 Westwood, J. O. 1840. An introduction to the modern classification of insects; founded on 



the natural habits and corresponding organisation of the different families. London, 



Longman et al., Vol. 2, p. 229. 



BOOK NOTICE 



The bee genera of North and Central America (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) by C. D. 



Michener, R. J. McGinley and B. N. Danforth. Smithsonian Institution Press, 

 Washington and London, 1994, viii + 210pp, £34.95 ($53.95), hardback.— A highly 

 illustrated book with bilingual (English and Spanish) text comprising mainly diagnostic 

 keys and short descriptions. Generic check list and extensive references complete this 

 very thorough taxonomic study. It is a shame that more biological and ecological 

 details are not given. 



