THE TOIJNG 



NATURALIST. 



U3 



BRITISH ANTS— By G. C. BIGNELL. 



(Continued from page 127 J 

 one bearing another worker between the 

 mandibles. The worker from the large nest 

 (which I shall call No. 1), would come up to 

 the worker of the small nest, No, 2 (who 

 was evidently just returning from a foraging 

 expedition, and ignorant of what was going 

 on at home), would exchange a few words, or 

 something very closely allied, as if to say, 

 "You must come with me." No. 2 indig- 

 nantly replied, "No, I shall not, what have 

 you to do with me ? " No. 1. " You will have 

 to come." No. 2. " If I must come, you will 

 have to carry me.'* A very slight resistance 

 followed, when No. 2 would turn over on its 

 back, be immediately seized by No. 1, who 

 at once returned towards the large formi- 

 carium. This was repeated almost every 

 minute, in the path close to my feet, which 

 No. 2 had to cross to get to its home. The 

 struggle was carried on for many yards in 

 the wood among the undergrowth, wherever 

 'the worker of No. 2 could be found. How 

 ■ long the battle lasted I know not I watched 

 them for about an hour ; but before my de- 

 parture, in order to remove all doubts from 

 my mind as to the species, I boxed about a 

 dozen of the Amazons and their prisoners, 

 and sent half of them to the late Mr. F.Smith, 

 who pronounced them all to be Formica 

 mfa. The nest measured at the base about 

 forty feet in circumference; and in the 

 centre it was about three feet in height. 

 The cold and wet seasons of 1879-80 destroy, 

 .ed it. Not a single worker could be seen 

 on the spot in May, 1881. 



2. Formica congerens, Nyl. 



The Male differs from F, mfa in having 

 the eyes more densely and regularly hairy ; 

 the wings with pale yellowish nerves at the 

 Base, and less clouded; the abdomen dull, 

 and all the segments above with black bristly 

 •liairs. 



The Female differs in having the eyes with 

 Tery short, scattered, f/ne hairs, and the 



abdomen covered with fine short sericeous 

 adpressed grey pubescence. Scutellum dull. 



The WoKKER differs in having the thorax 

 comparatively densely covered with hairs and 

 the eyes hairy. 



Habitat. — It was first taken at Loch 

 Rannoch in 1864 ; since that it has been taken 

 at Bournemouth. The Eev. W. F. White 

 states that F. congerens "is the common 

 wood-ant of that unique watering-place, and 

 constructs its nest on the same plan and 

 architectural principles as F. rufa, which has 

 not yet been found in the neighbourhood." 

 Since the above was written, the writer had 

 occasion to pass through Bournemouth, and 

 having four hours to spare visited a pine- 

 wood about a mile from the town, saw only 

 one ant-hill, and brought away twenty-one 

 workers from it, which are certainly F. rufa. 



Forel and Emery, the latest authorities on 

 ants, consider this as only a race of F. mfa, 

 with which I quite agree. 



3. Formica sanguinea, Ltr. 



Resembling F. mfa, the female and worker 

 much brighter in colouring. 



The Male differs in having the mandibles 

 with three to five teeth and the clypeus emar- 

 ginaU (plate 5, fig. 9). The thorax also has 

 only a few isolated bristly hairs. Length, 

 9 mill. 



The Female differs in the brightness and 

 extent of the red colour, the thorax sometimes 

 being entirely red, and in having the clypeus 

 emarginate and the frontal area dull. Length, 

 9-10 mill. 



The WoEKER differs much in the same 

 respects as the female. The thorax is gene- 

 rally unspotted and the legs are slightly 

 fuscous ; the scale of the petiole and clypeus 

 emarginate and the frontal area dull. Some 

 of the pale varieties of F. cunicularia resemble 

 it closely in colour, but the emarginate cly- 

 peus will distinguish it at once. Length, 

 5.9 mill. 



Habitat, — Weybridge, Chobham Heath, 

 (Continued on page i6g.) 



