120 SIB JOHN LUBBOCK 05f ANTS, BEES, AND WASPS. 



Lomechiisa strumosa has been recorded from the nests of For- 

 mica sanguinea, Myrmica rubra, Formica conger ens, and F. rnfa; 

 but Dr. Wasmanu, like Y. Hagen and Forel, has never found it 

 except with F. sanguinea. It is fed by the ants in the same man- 

 ner as Atemeles, and has very similar bundles of golden hairs on 

 the abdomen, which are licked by the ants like those of Atemeles. 

 While, however, the ants seem to communicate, with the Atemeles 

 mainly by means of the antennae, in the case of Lomechusa the 

 parts of the mouth are brought more into play. He has found 

 Lomechusa in the ants' nests up to the end of June. 



Dinarda dentata is a still more frequent inmate in the nests of 

 F. sanguinea, but plays a very different part. The ants seem in- 

 different to them, and when they take any notice it is of an 

 unfriendly character. Nor can this be wondered at, for according 

 to M. Wasmanu the principal food of the Binardas consists of 

 any ant which may chance to die, or any other weak insect 

 which falls in their way. The ants seem thoroughly to distrust 

 them, and it is curious that they should be tolerated. Grimm, 

 indeed, thought he had seen ants licking the Dinar das, as they 

 do Atemeles and Lomechusa. Wasmann, however, considers that 

 this was a mistake; at any rate he has never seen anything of the 

 kind. If an ant meets a Dinarda she either treats it with in- 

 difference or threatens the beetle with her jaws, and the Dinarda 

 then raises its abdomen, which appears always to drive away 

 the ant. It is possible that the Dinarda has the power of pro- 

 ducing an odour distressing to the ants, or perhaps they eject 

 poison like the Formicas themselves. They seem always to re- 

 main in the nests of the ants, and pass through their transform- 

 ation in them. Formica sanguinea, like F. rufa and F. congerens, 

 changes its nest periodically twice a year ; such, at least, is said 

 to be the case on the continent ; I am not aware whether the 

 same habit has been observed in this country. The summer 

 nests are looser and opener, the winter ones lower and more 

 compressed. In their migration from one nest to the other, 

 which are occasionally at some distance apart, the ants are 

 accompanied by the Dinardas. On one occasion, when the ants 

 were flitting, Dr. Wasmann in 20 minutes captured among 

 them thirteen specimens of Dinarda; while under other circum- 

 stances lie never saw one outside the nest. 



Hetcerius ferrugineus, helonging to a totally different family of 

 beetles, the Histcrida', and which inhabits the nests of Folgergus 



