Aleociiarin I.- 
-INSECTS.- 
-PSELAPHIDAC. 
209 
nine British species of the family Oxijtelidce. Our figure 
(fig. 70) shows one of the Bledii group. 
We now come to a strange-looking set of Staphy- 
linidte, remarkable for their very singularly developed 
Fig. 71. 
Spirachtha Eurymedusa — Beetle of White ants* nest. 
abdomen. Professor Scbibdte of Copenhagen, who 
visited London in 1856, being much interested in the 
habits of those insects, asked Professor Keinhardt to 
collect for him any insects he might find in the nes^s 
of the white ants, during his travels in Brazil. Accord- 
inglj^ when collecting near Santa Lagoa in the province 
of Minas-Geraes, he came on the nests of a Termes. 
In the nests Professor Reinhardt met with three 
minute species of insects, which he sent to our 
Copenhagen naturalist, who saw that they consisted 
of three species of insects of the grotip Aleocliarini, 
two forming his genus Corotoca,* Corotoca Melantho, 
and Coj'otoca Pliylo ; to the other he gave the name 
Sinrachtlia Eurymedusa^ (see our figures copied from 
Schiodte’s work). In the former the maxillary palpi 
are four -jointed ; in Spiracththa these palpi have 
only three joints ; in the latter the four-jointed tarsi 
have the three first joints equal in length, while the 
first joint of tarsi in Corotoca is very much elon- 
gated. In Spirachtha, at least in the females, the 
abdomen is membranaceous and very much broken, the 
anterior part is globose, fixed to the hind part, and 
having on each side three membranaceous appendages, 
which are thread-shaped and two-jointed. The wings 
Fig. 72. 
Formica rufa, may be found, in the month of May, a 
little reddish notched beetle, with short elytra called 
Dinarda Mcerhelii. 
Another species, much smaller than D. Mcerlcelii 
and called D. dentata, was found by Mr. Reading, near 
Plymouth, in nest of Formica fusca, but it seems to 
be very rare. (Figure on Plate 3, fig. 18, Lomechusa 
dentuta.) Mr. Janson believes that the Dinardis and 
most of the other ants’ nest beetles feed on the excre- 
ment of the ants, or on some of the numerous parasites 
which invariably infest the nests. 
That ants, though in general hostile to their fellow 
insects, are very friendly to others, has long been 
known, although it is only within the last few 
years that observers on the Continent have ascer- 
tained that there are nearly fifty species of Coleoptera, 
which pass at least a portion of their lives exclusively 
in the nests of various ants. 
Mr. Janson gives the following list of Myrmecophi- 
lous Coleoptera* with the name of the species of ant 
with which they are usually associated. 
Trichonyx Majrkelii, Formica flava. 
Claviger testaceus, 
Myrmedonia canaliciilafa, . . 
“ iimbata, 
“ hnmeralis, 
“ cognata, 
“ funesta, 
“ laticollis, 
“ lugens 
“ Haworthi, 
“ collaris, Myrmica rubra. 
Homalota flavipes, Formica rufa, 
flava, and F. fusca. 
flava, and Myrmica rubra, 
flava, and F. fuliginosa. 
rufa. 
fuliginosa. 
fuliginosa. 
fuliginosa. 
fuliginosa. 
rufa. 
confusa, 
“ anceps, 
Oxypoda vittata, 
“ hacmorrhoea, 
“ formiceticola, . . . 
Aleocbara ruficornis, 
Thiasophila angulata, 
Ilomceusa acuminata, 
Dinarda Mjerkelii, 
Lomechusa strumosa,.. ... 
Atemeles paradoxus, 
“ emarginatus, . . . 
Leptacinus formicetorum, . 
Staphylinus latebricola, .... Myrmica rubra. 
Qtiedius brevis, Formica rufa. 
fuliginosa. 
rufa. 
fuliginosa. 
rufa. 
rufa. 
fusca. 
rufa. 
fusca. 
rufa. 
rufa. 
fusca. 
fusca, and Myrmica rubra, 
rufa. 
Heta;rius sesquicornis, 
Dendropbilus punotatus, . . . 
“ pygmajus,.. . . 
Saprinus piceus, 
Ampbotis marginata, 
Larvre of Cetonia aurata, 
and Clytbra quadripunc- 
tata, 
Monotoma conicicollis, 
“ angusticollis,... 
fusca, and F flava. 
rufa. 
rufa. 
rufa. 
fuliginosa. 
rufa. 
rufa. 
rufa. 
Corotoca Melantho. — Hectle found in nest of W’liite ant 
are ample, and ciliated slightly on the borders. The Spi- 
rachtha is rarer apparently than the others. 
In the nests of that common British wood-ant, 
* 1\0PV, TiKTO, t ^TitpotvdyjS. 
VoL. 11. 83 
Family— PSELAPHIDiE. 
A family of beetles of very small size, may 
be briefly alluded to. They are small and have 
remarkable antennse and palpi. Their thorax 
is small, and the elytra do not cover the 
abdomen. There are thirty species recorded in the 
latest British list. These species belong to the genera 
Batrisus, Pselaphus, Bryaxis, Bythinus, Tychus, Tri- 
chonyx, Euplectus, Trimmium, and Claviger. Here, too, 
* A few species have been subsequently added to Ibis list by 
the indefatigable exertions of Dr. Power, and every year adds 
to the number. 
