EREBOMYRMA, A NEW GENUS OF HYPOG^IC 

 ANTS FROM TEXAS. 1 



WILLIAM MORTON WHEELER. 



The occurrence of a new genus of ants in a country so long 

 known to entomologists as the United States is a matter of sur- 

 prise when we reflect that the Formicidae constitute a much 

 smaller family and one much better understood taxonomically 

 than many of those that go to make up the great order of the 

 Hymenoptera, and that, notwithstanding the zeal of collectors, 

 new ant genera are rarely brought to light at the present time 

 even in the most remote and inaccessible regions of the globe. 



Early in October Mr. W. H. Long, Jr., kindly sent me from 

 Denton, near the northern boundary of Texas, a number of ants, 

 which, had only the minute yellow workers been present, I should 

 have regarded at first sight as specimens of our common Solenop- 

 sis molesta Say. But the large males and still larger females in 

 the same vial were so unlike any ants I had ever seen that I 

 undertook a more careful examination of the workers and found 

 them to differ not only from any of the known American genera 

 but also from the Old World genera as well. 



In response to a request for data concerning the capture of the 

 specimens, Mr. Long sent me the following : " I have seen this 

 species only once. That was early one morning (I believe it 

 was September 21) after a warm rain the night before. My at- 

 tention was attracted by an old hen greedily devouring the winged 

 forms as they issued from a small hole/ in a clear, open space in 

 my back yard. There were no rocks, heaps of earth or surface 

 indications of a nest of any kind. Most of the males and females 

 flew away at once, but here and there I saw a few couples mating 

 near the nest. The diminutive workers fondled and clung to 

 the sexual individuals till the latter escaped into the air. There 

 were many more males than females." 



The following is a description of the new genus and species 

 which I take pleasure in dedicating to Mr. Long, as a very slight 



1 Contributions from the Zoological Laboratory of the L T niversity of Texas, No. 45. 



137 



