394 
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 
Occurrence of Myrmica lobicornis (nyl), in Norfolk. 
]\Ir. H. J. Thouless took three neuters of this Ant on Mousehold 
in 188G ; it is the rarest species of true Myrmica found in Britain. 
Tliey were found singly, and attracted his attention by skulking 
instead of running away as Ants do when interfered with. I have 
hunted Mousehold in search of Ants for many years, but never 
met with this very scarce species, which is easily known by its 
peculiar antenme which are geniculated at the base, and have a 
spine at the point of geniculation. — John B. Bridgman. 
Instinct at Fault. — Last autumn INfr. McRae, of Bournemouth, 
sent me four Ichneumons M'hich Master Dolaniore had bred from 
one of our scarcer Wasps [Eamenes coarctata), two of them proved 
to be the males of a Crypti, which has been twice before bred 
from the same host, and once from a bee. The Wasp in this country 
is scarce, and the parasite much scarcer. Each of these two 
parasites emerged from a separate cell of the AVasp, and also from 
one of the same cells there issued two more Ichneumons much 
smaller than the others, both having an aculeus far too short to 
pierce the hard sandy case of the cocoon, and deposit its egg in 
the larva within ; I think that the parent Wasp did not use 
sufficient discretion in collecting the small Caterpillars for the 
food of her young offspring, but took two which had been 
previously stung by an Ichneumon. I might say these solitary 
AVasps make round sandy cells into which they put several 
Caterpillars after stinging them ; this does not appear to kill, but 
only to stujiefy them. AVhen sufficient are collected, the AA^'asp 
laj's an egg on them, and closes the cell. AVhen the egg hatches, 
the young Wasp grub sucks the juices from the Caterpillars 'which 
serve for its food, when all finished it turns to jiupa, and finally 
emerges a perfect AVasp. The grub, in this case, must have had 
a hard time of it, in the first place the two smaller Ichneumons’ 
larva consumed two of the Caterpillars, and thus deprived the 
grub of a good part of its sustenance, and after which an 
Ichneumon egg was deposited in or on it, which, when hatched, 
sucked the juices from its body and caused its death. There is 
another way to aecount for the presence of the two smaller 
Ichneumons, it is just possible that the parent Ichneumon, prowling 
about, might have entered the cell during the AA^asp’s absence, and 
