Corner, J.

Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia

8 P IWC. E" TO:\ IOI.. SO(' . B HIT. COU; :\IP. I,\ . VU I.. 57 (1 960 ). D EC. 1, 1 960 Sub fami ly PLUSIINAE Chrysaspidia :~273 pu t nami GI' t. 1. Kam loops . 2. August. S ubfamily CATOCALINAF. 3;~4fl uniju ga W I!\: . lw :illa Wor th . ]. Kam loops . 2. September. 3:152 faustina Stkr. 1. K amloops. 2. Sep tember , October. Famil y GEOMET RIDAE Sub fami ly GEOMETRIN AE Cheteoscelis Pr ou t. 4079 bistr ia l'i a P ac k. lIcl inaTia Stkr . 1. Sum merl and. 2. Jun e. Subfamil y ENNOMINAE Pero H.-S. 5072 honestal' iu s Wlk. stygi.a1"'i tt s Wlk. clyaTi C. & S . 1 Kam l oo ]l ~. 2. May. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The author is indebted to Dr. D. F. Hard-wick, Entomology Research Institute, Can-ada Depar tment of Agriculture, Ottawa, for identification of specimens and encourage-ment in publishing the appended list. References Llewellyn-J ones, J . . R. J. 1951. An anno tated check list of the macrolepidoptera of Bntlsh Columbia. Ent. Soc. B .C. Occas. Paper No. !. McDunnough, J . 1938. Check List of the Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States. Part I. , Macrolepidoptera. Me moirs of the Southern California Academy of Sciences, Vol. I. AN INCIDENT OF DESTRUCTION OF HONEYBEE COLONIES IN THE INTERIOR OF B.C. BY AN ANT, PROBABLY FORMICA INTEGRA NYLANDER In a letter received on J un e 3, 1959, from Mr. J . C. Keswick of Osoyoos, B.C., h e a dvises tha t a few of his honeybee colonies were moved from Osoyoos up into th e Anarchist Moun-tain a rea as a safeguard against des-truction by Sevin. Four days a fter moving, Mr. Keswick ch ecked his colonies a t which t ime a great deal of ant activity was noticed . Upon check-ing the first colony in line it was found to be empty; th e only trace of bees being a little capped brood and about a quarter of an inch of wings on the bottom board of the hive. The second hive exa mined was found to be in the same condit ion and the third one was just being invaded. According to Mr. Keswick it was an amazing thing to observe th e ants attacking honeybees. Generally a t least three ants would a ttack a bee, snip her in two a t the join of the abdomen and thorax, snip off the wings and h ead , and carry the dis-sec ted bee to their nest. It would appear that as soon as the honeybee colony had been destroyed the ants then polished off any stores of honey, pollen or brood . The hive n ext in line had not been touched, neither were the remainder of the colonies. Mr. Keswick carefully checked the area and a t about forty feet from the colony a la rge nest of ants was dis-covered . This was destroyed after dark and specimens of the ants were sent to the author who in turn had th em mailed to G. L. Ayre of Research Branch , Summerland, where they were identified a s probably being Formica integra Ny 1 and e r . This species is common in the Okanagan and because of its predacious habits is gen erally considered to be bene·· ficia l. It is very indiscriminate in its choice of food and will take anything h andy. . - ,I . ()O,/,U(''/". P l'o1!'incia l Apiarist, V e1'non, B.C. 

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An incident of destruction of honeybee colonies in the interior of B.C. by an ant, probably Formica integer Nylander

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An incident of destruction of honeybee colonies in the interior of B.C. by an ant, probably Formica integer Nylander

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Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia