34 



FASCICULI MALAY EN SES 



50. Polyrhachis nigripilosa 



Polyrhachis nigripilosa, Mayr. y Ami. Mus. Civ. Gen. ii (1872), p. 141, £ . 



Biserat, Jalor. June. 

 Bukit Bcsar, Nawngchik. 2,500 feet. August. 



' Running on gingerwort leaf, on which a mimetic (?) parasitic Hymenop- 

 teron (mistaken for a larval Locustid, which also resembles it) was captured 

 at the same time.' 



51. Polyrhachis mayri 



Polyrhachis relucens, Mayr. (nec Latr.), Verh. Zool. Bot. Ges. Wien. xii (1862), 

 p. 685. 



Polyrhachis mayri, Roger, Verz. Form. Gatt. N. Art., p. 7. 



Bukit Besar, Nawngchik. 2,500 feet. September. 



1 Running about on leaves of low shrubs.' 



Found also almost throughout the Indo-Malayan region. 



52. Polyrhachis pillventris 



Polyrhachis piliventris, Smith, Cat. Hym. Brit. Mus. vi, 1858, p. 60, pi. iv, 

 %• 24, g . 



* The species was taken in nests in tree-trunks on Bukit Besar and at 

 Telom. In the former locality one of us noted that the ants were 

 accompanied by several individuals of a Reduviid bug, unfortunately 

 immature, which entered the nest with them. It was about the same size as 

 the workers, in some cases rather larger, and bore a generalised resemblance 

 to an ant, especially in its movements, which were very rapid. Its abdomen 

 was broad and flattened from above downwards, with the dorsal surface closely set 

 with short, stiff hairs. On these hairs were fastened the shrivelled bodies 

 of ants apparently belonging to the species under consideration. To a human 

 eye these dead bodies certainly did not increase the bug's resemblance to 

 an individual ant, though they helped to conceal it in a swarm ; but is 

 possible that they may have appealed in some way to the sense of recognition 

 which it is well known that ants possess as regards the members of the 

 community. The bodies were so shrivelled that it is probable that they had 

 been sucked dry before being disposed on the bug's back ; but we were 

 unable to discover anything about the relationship which existed between it 

 and what were probably its victims. The habit is parallelled in a common 

 European Reduviid.' 



Originally described from Singapore. 



