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Show 1891.] ASSOCIATION OF GAMASIDS WITH ANTS. 641 upon my journey, but on my return I found that during my absence Prof. Berlese had described it from specimens he found near Naples. He says " frequently found in Ants' nests," but does not say anythirn-as to the species of Ant or whether found in the nests of more than one species ; he calls it Uropoda canestriana l. I spent the month of April (1891) in Corsica. Above Ajaccio, almost adjoining the top of the garden of the Hotel Continental, is a little sheltered plain of sandy earth and rock, with scattered bushes and a great number of large, loose stones. On turning these stones over, the larger number are found to cover the nests of some Ant; one of those most frequently found in this locality is the small yellow Tetramorium ccespitum, race meridionale, Emery, which differs widely from the ordinary type of that species. On examining the nests of this Ant with a lens, I at once noticed some reddish-orange spots, which I at first thought might be Sir John Lubbock's Uropoda formicaries. Placing them under the microscope I found them to be an allied but different and much smaller species, then unknown to me; but which, as above stated, Prof. Berlese had lately found and called after Prof. Canestrini. The Uropodce were on the undersides of the stones and in the passages and chambers of the nest, never, as far as I saw, upon the Ants themselves; they were, as is usual, rather inactive creatures, and did not appear to take much notice of the Ants, nor did the Ants of them. It was not every nest of T. ccespitum that contained the Uropodce, but I should think half did; and although not very abundant they were fairly numerous in those nests where they did occur. They were of both sexes and of ali ages. I did not find this Uropoda in the nest of any Ant except T. ccespitum, nor have I ever found it anywhere except in the nests of the Ant. In the nests of the same species of Ant at the same place we found one of the Gamasince belonging to the genus Lcelaps, which I believe to be unrecorded and propose to name L. equitans; it is sub-discoidal in form, very small, and is an active, wandering creature, entirely different from the Uropoda. It was found, like the Uropoda, upon the underside of the covering-stones, and in the passages and chambers of the nest; but it was also found on the Ants themselves, most frequently sitting quietly upon the broad head of the Ant. It did not appear at all like a creature which was permanently resident upon the Ant,but rather like one which was enjoying a short temporary ride; it jumped on to and off the Ant with great activity, and several times when the nest was disturbed or when I thought I was going to catch the Lcelaps it jumped neatly on to the head of an Ant, which ran off and was immediately lost amongst the swarms of others. The Ant never seemed to be at all inconvenienced by its rider, and never made any effort to get rid of it, but appeared to me to go on contentedly carrying it as long as the Lcelaps chose to stay. This mounting and riding upon the Ants seemed to me very characteristic of the Gamasid, and I have utilized it for the specific name. The Lcelaps 1 " Acari Scorpioni e Mii-iapodi Italiani." Florence, fasc. lviii. 43* |