31 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
International Relations of Lomechusa.* — Herr E. Wasmann con- 
tinues his account of the way in which Lomechusa strumosa is received 
and treated by various ants. The beetle was transferred suddenly from 
a nest of Formica rufa to one of F. pratensis and was hospitably received. 
By F. exsecta the guest was received in friendly fashion, but with some 
curiosity ; it was not fed nor much licked. In independent colonies of 
F. fusca , the intruder was at first assaulted, but was soon being licked 
and fed. A similar story is told of F. rufibarbis and F. fusco-rujibarbis. 
When Lomechusa was introduced into a mixed colony of Polyergus 
rufescens and its helper F. fusca , the latter tended to attack the visitor, 
but soon became hospitable, while the master ants paid no heed. The 
large species Camponotus ligniperdus was far from hospitable ; the first 
Lomechusa introduced was speedily beheaded ; a second was treated less 
impatiently but was eventually killed ; and all subsequent attempts at 
introduction failed. To Lasius fuliginosus the visitor was not welcome, 
nor did it seem to feel at home among its far from fragrant hosts. So 
with L. niger and L. umbratus the reception was hostile or at best 
indifferent. An introduction also failed with Myrmica scabrinodis , 
M. ruginodis , M. Isevinodis , Tapinoma erraticum , Tetramorium csespitum , 
Leptothorax tuberum, Formicoxenus nitidulus. 
The international relations are perfect between Lomechum and all 
colonies of F. sanguinea , F. rufa , and F. pratensis . But as has been 
noticed above there are numerous cases in which a hostile reception soon 
gives place to hospitality. Herr Wasmann believes that the friendliness 
of F. sanguinea to Lomechusa is quite instinctive, but the recognition 
depends on the fact that the guest makes a pleasant appeal to the senses 
of its hosts. It is important to note its peculiar smell, its yellow 
secreting tuft, the aromatic secretion which the ants lick, and its initia- 
tive in approaching the ants and touching them with its antennae. Herr 
Wasmann gives a careful analysis of the whole matter, and promises an 
account of Atemeles and its international relations. 
Facts concerning Sex and Reproduction in Hymenoptera.f — Herr 
C. Verhoeff* describes under the name “Proterothesia” the remarkable fact 
that in the nest of Fossoria, Vesparia, and their parasites, the tenants of 
the anterior cells are male, those in the posterior cells female. This 
is the case with Crabro capitosus, C. sambucicola , Ehopalum clavipes , 
Trypoxylon figulus , Chevrieria unicolor , Prosopis brevicornis , and Osmia 
rubicola. No exceptional case is known to the author, but the nests may 
be wholly male or wholly female. Of these he gives eleven different cases. 
“ Proterocraty ” is another fact — the individuals which appear first 
among the males or among the females are stronger than those which 
come after them. The “ Proterandry ” described by W. H. Muller 
prevents pairing between the sexes of one nest. Proterothesia and 
proterandry are correlated facts ; in conjunction only are they of 
importance. It seems likely that the nutritive supply has much to do 
with the proterothesia and proterocraty. Another frequently observed 
fact is polyandry. There is not only a struggle between males, but the 
large number of males allows a selection of the fittest among the fit, and 
* Biol. Central!)!, xii. (1892) pp. 638-69. 
t Zool. Anzeig., xv. (1892) pp. 362-70. 
