AN ABERRANT LASIUS FROM JAPAN. 



I 3 



AIM! i apilla prominent. Legs very long; femora, tibia? 

 and i) etatarsi dilated and compressed anteroposteriorly; remain- 



tarsal joint- growing successively narrower. 

 Bod 'I appendages smooth and shining, very finely and 

 inconspi< uously punctate. Pleura? and especially the sides of the 

 pin-. tn in more opaque and somewhat more coarsely punctate. 

 M.indiM. .|ue, finely and sharply striated. 



yrllou ish, very short and sparse on the body, denser and 

 - appr, ocl on the flat surfaces of the legs, but absent on tin- 



i A. Lasius s path f pus sp. nov.. deflated female ; B, head of same. 



-harp dot-al and ventral edges of these appendages. Anterior 

 I 'oidn ot t l\ priis with a row of short, stout bristles. Border of 

 prin -lr .ind posterior edge of each gastric segment with a sinje 

 row oi liaits. Circlet of anal cilia long and coarse. 



HI d\ drip chestnut brown; scapes, legs and articulations of 

 \\ini:- p. ill i ,uid more reddish; corners of clypeus and posterior 

 bordei -trie segments sordid yellow. 



I lii- tnr.ale may be at once distinguished from any of the 



kiioun ti in. ile Las ii by its peculiar heart-shaped head, short 



r .ind dilated and flattened metatarsi. The last character. 



in lari, i> nut nu-t with in any other known ant, except Melisso- 



tnr.^iis. \shirli l.mery regards as an aberrant Ponerine. 



Tin- Mippo-ition that L. spatliepus may not be a new species, 

 bin merely an extraordinary female form of some one of the \\rll- 

 knoun Japanese Lasii, is supported by the following considera- 

 tion-. Main years ago Walsh 1 described an aberrant female 



1 'n tin ' .f Aphidac found in the United Suit' 1 -." I 'roc. J-'.nl. Soc. Phila.. 



I . N". ;. i y -1)4-311. 



