870 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



and places them high in the scale of invertebrate life. 

 Some ants have apparently no homes of their own, but 

 live in the nests of others, as Formicoxenus with Formica 

 rufa ; while one British species, Formica sanguined, 

 actually steals the pupae of another, F. fusca, from their 

 dwellings, and rears them up as workers or " slaves " in its 

 own nest. Many species introduce and keep various 

 Aphides within their nests, for the sake of the "honey" 

 which they emit. Others harbour certain Coleoptera in 

 their dwellings, some of which, as the curious blind 

 Claviyer, which they feed and tend with care, would appear 

 to be of some unknown value or interest to the ants. A'ery 

 many beetles, chiefly belonging to the Staphyliniclce, are 

 more or less peculiar to ants' nests, where they dwell, and 

 sometimes even pass their metamorphoses ; others again 

 occur there probably as plunderers, or even casual 

 visitors in search of warmth and shelter ; altogether about 

 seventy species of Coleoptera have been found associated 

 with ants in Britain. Of other insects, certain Coccidce 

 are regularly found in ants' nests, where they seem to be 

 carefully cared for by their hosts ; also a species of wood- 

 louse. 



Formicid.e. 



Most of our English species come under the head of 

 Mining Ants, forming extensive burrows and excavations 

 for their nests in various situations ; some in the earth, 

 either in banks (F. fusca, L. niger, L. umbratus and 

 T . erratica) or in raised " ant-hills " or under stones 

 (L. flavus), and some in decayed wood (L. fuliginosus and 

 occasionally F. fusca, L. niger, L. umbratus). The three 

 non-mining species (F. rufa, F. sanguinea and F. exsecta) 

 construct pyramidal nests of twigs, leaves, &c, above 

 ground. The pupse of the F ormicidaz are generally 



