ACETIC ACID ODOR FROM STENOLOPHUS FIDELIS

Abstract

On October 8, I was collecting insects from under stones by a little pond on the Commonage road near Vernon. B. C. Small, shiny, black carabids were common, and several were picked up with tweezers and dropped into a vial of alcohol. Though the day was cold and windy, a smell of acetic acid was noticed and traced to the tweezers. The next carabid taken I incautiously held close to my nose: the odor it emitted choked me and made my eyes smart for a second. Other specimens were tested with due caution, and nearly all produced a puff or spray of acid. The smell was as pungent as ever I have experienced when disturbing a colony of red ants.