THE YOUNG 



NATURALIST. 



175 



BRITISH ANTS^By O. C. BIGNELL. 



(Continued from page 159J 



are found brighter than rufa, and others are 

 so like fusca as to be practically undistin- 

 guishable. The writer once mistook it for 

 fusca, and did not discover the mistake for 

 some months. These were captured on the 

 sea-clififs near Plymouth, on the flowers of 

 Silene maritime. 



It may be always distinguished from fusca 

 by its smaller head, and thorax not so 

 robust ; from rufa by the dull frontal area ; 

 and from sanguinea by the entire clypeus. 

 Length, 7-8 mill. 



Habitat.— Generally distributed ; in some 

 places common ; makes its nest in the ground. 

 Male and female appear during August. 



6. Formica fusca, Linn. 



Male. — Black-brown, shining, with a 

 somewhat bronzy tint. Scape of the antennae 

 of the same colour as the head ; frontal area 

 dull ; legs and genital segments testaceous- 

 red. Length, 8 mill. 



Female. — Dark brown, polished, with a 

 bronzy tint, only the legs and scape of the 

 antennae dull brownish red ; head and thorax 

 with a few erect hairs. Abdomen remotely 

 and very slightly punctured, bearing a few 

 scattered bristly hairs. Length, 8 mill. 



Worker. — Dark brown, with a bronzy 

 tint, covered with an exceedingly fine pubes- 

 cence, which gives it a sheeny appearance ; 

 legs and antennae slightly paler. Abdomen 

 with a few short, pale, bristly hairs near 

 the apex of each segment. Length, 5-8 mill. 



Habitat.— Generally distributed and com- 

 mon ; makes its nest in the ground, prefer- 

 ring a southern aspect. The nest of this 

 species frequently contains some of the 

 ■ rarest of our myrmecophilous beetles. In 

 the nests of nearly all ants beetles will be 

 found. It is supposed that they act the part 

 of scavengers. 



7. Formica gagates, Ltr. 



• Worker. — Shining black, with the man- 



dibles, antennae and articulations of the legs 

 rufescent ; the tibias and femora piceous ; 

 abdomen shining and sprinkled with a number 

 of erect hairs; the scale of the petiole truncate 

 above and slightly emarginate. Length, 7 

 mill. 



This is recorded as a new British species 

 in the Entomologist's Annual for 1866. It 

 was taken by Mr. Smith at Bournemouth. 

 He says it "closely resembles fusca; but 

 the workers are larger, blacker, and more 

 shining, and the abdomen has a quantity of 

 erect rigid hairs." Smith has omitted it 

 from his Catalogue published in 1871 by the 

 Entomological Society of London, no doubt 

 considering it a race of fusca, and which 

 Emery and Forel supposed it to be. 



Genus LASIUS. 

 Differs from Formica in having the male 

 much smaller than the female. Also in the 

 shape of the antennae : the male has the 

 first joint of the flagellum much thicker than 

 the rest (in Formica it is not thicker) ; in 

 the female and worker the first joint of the 

 flagellum shorter than the apical (in Formica 

 it is as long or longer). 



1. Lasius fuliginosus, Ltr. 



This species would be recognized at once 

 by its jet-black colour. 



Male about the same size of the worker, 

 flagellum of antennae and the tarsi testa- 

 ceous. Length, 4-5 mill. 



Female, rather more shining than the 

 male, and larger. Length, 6 mill. 



Worker, same colour and polish as the 

 female. Length, 3-5 mill. 



Habitat. — Generally distributed, and 

 found inhabiting decayed trees, &c. Mr. 

 Smith has found them in a hard sand-bank. 

 This is a very unusual occurrence. Male 

 and female appear about the end of June or 

 beginning of July. 



2. Lasius niger^ Linn. 



Male. — Dark fuscous ; legs and flagellum 

 (Continued on page igi.) 



