( 95 ) XV. Essay on the Genera and Species of British Formicidce. By Frederick Smith, Esq. [Read December 4th, 1854.] In offering the present Essay to the notice of the Entomological Society, I beg that it may be considered as an attempt to form a correct census of the number of indigenous species of Ants ; this family of insects has hitherto obtained so small a share of inde-fatigable research, that it will be evident, the present list must not be considered as one which approaches a complete Fauna, but which embodies descriptions m.erely of all the present known species inhabiting Great Britain. Every care has been bestowed upon their identification with the species described by Nylander, Foerster, and others ; and, in most instances, aided by a comparison with typical specimens presented by those eminent Entomologists to the author : possessing these valuable and most efficient aids, I present the following Essay with a greater degree of confidence than I otherwise could have assumed. Tribe HETEROGYNA. Family FORMICID/E. The FormiciJcs, or Ants, is composed of a large group of in-sects, probably exceeding in the number of its species that of any family of Hymenoptera : the Ichneumoiiidce alone, in my opinion, may probably equal it. It is true that the known British species are few in number, for the metropolis of these insects lays in the tropics, from whence they appear to diverge, gradually becoming less numerous as they approach the frigid regions of the arctic circle. The number of species which inhabit the New World, if we may form a calculation from the observations of an intelligent and indefatigable Naturalist, Mr. W. H. Bates, must, as he justly ob-serves, " exceed all that can be reasonably imagined ;" for he con-tinues, "I think it will reach the number of 400 species in the the Valley of the Amazons alone ; there appears to be a distinct species of Myrmica in every twig and stem in the woods." If f uch be the case in so limited a district, what must be the number when those which inhabit the vast lands of Africa, India, Southern Europe, and the remaining portions, South and North America,
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