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FORMICA SANGUINEA, Ltr., AT BEWDLEY, WITH 

 AN ACCOUNT OF A SLAVE-RAID, AND DESCRIP- 

 TION OF TWO GYNANDROMORPHS, &c. 



By Horace St. John K. Donisthorpe, F.Z.S. 



On July 19th last I went to Bewdley Forest for a few days to 

 study the nests of Formica sanguinea, a species which is rather 

 common there. Indeed, it nourishes amazingly, having increased 

 considerably since I was there last year. It is now spread all 

 over the district, all along the railway banks, the roads through 

 the Forest, and even in some of the fields. I found the ants 

 very active, winged males and females in most of the nests (some 

 of the former in one of the nests being very small specimens, 

 " Micraners"), and some winged females running about outside. 

 I captured two gynandromorphic specimens — one, half-male, half- 

 worker, on July 20th ; and the other, half-male, half-female, 

 on July 21st. I give a description of these curious creatures 

 later on. 



On July 20th I was fortunate enough to witness a slave-raid. 

 I found the ants belonging to a nest situated on a high embank- 

 ment of the railway in a great state of excitement, all running 

 about outside the nest, and very active in the hot sunshine, 

 some winged females being also present outside. I then noticed 

 that a lot of sanguinea workers kept arriving, carrying pupae, 

 whilst others were all hurrying off in the opposite direction. 

 These I started to follow, and found they went along the 

 embankment for a good many yards, and then descended the 

 steep bank, crossed the railway-lines in a slanting direction, and 

 mounted the bank on the opposite side. At the top I found 

 them busily engaged in ravaging a nest of Formica fusca. 

 Many workers, laden with pupae, were streaming off in the 

 direction of their home ; I had met specimens carrying pupa3 

 all the time I was tracking the outgoing ants. Others were 

 attacking and killing solitary fusca workers. Several fusca 

 workers were observed up the grass- stems, &c, holding pupa?, 

 and endeavouring to escape from the slave-raiders. I watched 



