138 WILLIAM MORTON WHEELER. 



acknowledgment of his aid in working out the distribution of 



o o 



our Texan Formicidae. 



EREBOMYRMA gen. nov.' 



Worker. Diminutive and monomorphic. Integument yellow, almost 

 without pigment. 



Head rather large, suboblong, its posterior border nearly straight, its 

 lateral borders slightly convex. Mandibles rather long, with oblique, 4- 

 toothed blades. Clypeus short, with concave median surface and a pair of 

 teeth on its anterior border. These project downwards rather than for- 

 wards and are continued upwards as two distinct ridges on the clypeus. 

 Eyes about one third the length of the head from the insertion of the man- 

 dibles, very small, consisting of a single indistinct lens and a few granules 

 of pigment. Ocelli absent. Frontal carinae short, somewhat further apart 

 than in Solenopsis, forming on either side a small lappet covering the in- 

 sertion of the antenna and then suddenly diverging posteriorly and ending 

 abruptly. Frontal area small, triangular, indistinct. Frontal groove ob- 

 solete. Antennal foveae well-developed. Antennae i i -jointed ; scape of 

 the- usual form, first to eighth joint of funiculus together hardly as long as 

 the distinctly 2-jointed club ; first funicular joint as long as the four suc- 

 ceeding joints taken together and distinctly broader ; joints 2-7 broader 

 than long ; eighth joint about as long as broad ; basal joint of club about 

 two fifths as long as the terminal joint. Labial palpi 2-jointed, maxillary 

 palpi i -jointed. Thorax considerably narrower than the head, prothorax 

 with rounded humeri, somewhat flattened above and not separated by a 

 distinct suture from the mesothorax ; meso- and metathorax of nearly the 

 same width and distinctly narrower than the prothorax ; meso- and epinotum 

 separated by a deep constriction, epinotum armed on either side with a 

 flattened tooth which is hardly longer than broad at its base and con- 

 tinued downwards and backwards as a distinct lamella ; dorsal and de- 

 clivous surfaces of epinotum of about equal length. Petiole in profile 

 much larger than the postpetiole ; with a high, rounded node and a slender 

 median tooth on its anterior ventral surface. Seen from above the petiole 

 is more than twice as long as broad, widest behind the middle, slender and 

 subpedunculate in front. Postpetiole seen from above broader behind 

 than in front, campanulate, its posterior edge about twice as broad as the 

 petiole ; in profile its dorsal and ventral surfaces are moderately convex. 

 Caster rather small, narrower than the head, elongate elliptical and some- 

 what flattened dorsoventrally ; anal opening distinctly on the ventral sur- 

 face, in front of the apex of the gaster. Sting small and apparently ves- 

 igial. Legs robust, the femora and tibiae incrassated, the former towards 



1 From "E/jf/3of, Erebos and fiip/ior, ant ; an allusion to the subterranean habits 

 and the gloomy coloring of the males and females. 



