( 47 ) II. The Generic Characters of Formicaleo ; with the Descrip tion of two new Species. By the Rev. Lansdown Guildin B.A. F.L.S. F.G.S. Read November 20, 1827. The natural history of the cognate genus Ascclaphus was given at length in a former communication to the Linnean Society : the details of Formicaleo will be found equally complete, with the exception of the ova, which have not yet been noticed. It is remarkable that, after a long-continued search, not a single perfect insect has been found by me in a state of liberty, though the larvae swarm under every rock or shed calculated to pro-tect their pitfalls from the rain and wind ; so successfully are they secreted from every enemy by their peculiar mode of rest-ing, and the favourable colour of their bodies. No true Mi/r-meleon has yet occurred in St. Vincent. Mr. Donovan in his Naturalist's Repository, under the article Myrmeleon libelluloides, plate 139, has committed a great error in mistaking the larva of these insects, which has been so long known, for an apterous female. The valuable characters of this family which the great French entomologist has given in his Genera Crust, et Ins. require some little correction. He should rather have said, A^itennce Sec. apice post mortem compressa; ; — these organs, as in the Asca-laphif shrinking much when dry. Palpi maxillares externi arti-culis quinque &c. . . . ultimo ad apicem acutiusculo vel obscur^ emarginato.
BioStor
