5 ( >4 ANTS. 



of M. hdi/oti, from which the accompanying figure i> drawn I Fig. 214). 

 in this specimen the gastric sclerites are greatly enlarged. Apparently 

 they were original! v much smaller, but along their borders the inter- 

 M-gmental membranes .seem to have hardened and turned brmvn second- 

 arily. The lines representing the original lateral borders of the 

 sclerites are shown in the figure. 



Froggatt ( 1896) described M. coivlei as a Camponotus, but his 

 figures and description show very clearly that it is a typical Melophorus, 

 closely related to bagoti. The replete, which measures 17 mm., has 

 the gaster distended to much the same extent as that of bagoti, but the 

 >clerites seem to be shorter and the intersegmental membranes larger. 

 Froggatt described all three phases of M. cou'lei from specimens taken 

 at Illamurta in the James Range and Spencer Gorge in the McDonnell 

 Range, in the very heart of Australia. He says that this ant is known 

 to the natives as the " Ittootoonee " and gives the following notes sent 

 him by Baldwin Spencer: "I came across a single nest of the golden 

 yellow species, which was a small one, consisting of branching passages 

 close to the surface, under a little block of quartzite in one of the 

 gorges amongst the McDonnell Ranges. In this nest the honey ants, 

 though considerably sw r ollen out, seemed to be able to move about 

 slowly. Perhaps it was a young colony and they were not fully 

 developed." 



2. Leptomyrmex rnfipcs. This is the only honey ant known to 

 occur among the Dolichoderinse. The genus Lcptoinvnnc.r, which is 

 confined to Australia and New Guinea, is characterized by its very 

 slender and emaciated body, extremely long legs and singular head 

 ( Fig. 3, F). In 1886 Forel published the following note on L. nifi^cs: 

 ' In the excavated nests of this variety Mr. Turner found workers 



with the gaster considerably dilated by the crop full of transparent 

 honey. The gaster resembled that of Myrmecocystus, without, how- 

 ever, attaining such dimensions." In an alcoholic specimen of this ant, 

 which I saw in Professor Forel's collection, the gaster appeared to be 

 much more distended than in the repletes of Prenolcpisand Mdopliorns. 



3. Plagiolepis trinicni. This species was discovered by Mutschin- 

 son at Natal and described by Forel in :895(r). The types were all 

 repletes, 6.5 mm. in length, of which the head and thorax together 

 measured only 2 mm. They are described as being of a " sordid 

 brownish yellow color, more reddish on the head and thorax ; the sides 

 of the gastric segments brownish ; feet and antennae yellowish." The 

 gaster " is distended with honey, like a round cyst, transparent, as 

 large as a hemp seed, on which the chitinous laminse of the segments 

 appear as islands. The anterior portion of the first segment ha- a 



