466 



THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Only two other specimens appear to have been found in 

 Britain. These are a specimen of Myrmica Icevinodis (B. Cooke, 

 Nat. Yorks. viii. 1882, p. 30 ; F. Smith, Ent. Ann. 1874, p. 147, 

 and Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 1874, Proceed, pt.iv.), and a specimen 

 of Stenamma ivestwoodi (R. C. H. Perkins, E.M.M. 1891, p. 123). 

 Prof. Wheeler has written a very complete paper on Gynandro- 

 morphous Ants (Bull. American Museum, Nat. Hist., xix. 1903 

 pp. 653-683). 



The following Myrmecophiles were taken during my stay at 

 Bewdley : — Dinarda dentata, not uncommon in some of the 

 sanguinea nests, as well as many of its larvae. A specimen of 

 Notothecta flavipes running among the sanguineas, having no 

 doubt flown from one of the rufa nests near, and another on the 

 wing. The mite Lcelaps cunifer, which occurs with so many 

 species of ants, was abundant in the sanguinea nests. The 

 interesting little fly, Phora formicarum, was captured hovering 

 over, and striking at ants in nests of F. sanguinea^ Lasius niger> 

 and L.flavus. It hovers in a very steady and deliberate manner 

 over an ant, getting gradually nearer and nearer. It was very 

 amusing to observe an ant, when it had become aware of the 

 presence of the fly, ran as hard as it could for shelter, pursued 

 by the fly. I found the fly would hover and strike at the ants 

 even when the latter were on my hands. A single Coccinella 

 distincta was found in a rufa nest. A female of the fine Bracon, 

 Euphorus bistigmaticus, recently described by Mr. Morley (E.M.M. 

 1909, p. 212), was captured, hovering over a nest of F. rufa. 



Before bringing these notes to a close, mention must be made 

 of a nest of Formica fusca var. rubescens, Forel, Ann. Soc. Ent. 

 Belgique, T. 48, p. 423 (1904). I discovered this nest last year 

 at Bewdley. It was situated under a very large, heavy stone, 

 and partly in a mound it had raised beside the stone. At the 

 time I took it to be Formica rufibarbis. I had expected to find 

 Dinarda pygmcea and Atemeles paradoxus with it, but this will 

 account for their absence ! No female could be found last year, 

 and this year, though many winged males were present, not a 

 single female could be found. This looks as if the males were 

 the parthenogenetic offspring of the workers, from worker eggs. 

 This is the first record of this variety of F. fusca in Britain, 

 though Prof. Forel tells me it is common in Switzerland. 



