214 MR. CURTIS ON THE GENUS MYRMICA, 



as the species under consideration was taken in abundance, from the same nest in 

 Scotland in 1825, all having long scapes, it seems to me to be distinct from M. ru- 

 bra or the allied species : moreover, if this extraordinary disparity of the scape were 

 merely a variation, how is it that the same difference is not observable in the other 

 species ? 



I possess four males, two females and four neuters, found in July in Perthshire, and I 

 have received males and females taken out of one nest in the neighbourhood of Man- 

 chester by Mr. P. Wood. 



5. M. PERELEGANS, Curt. 



The male (fig. 15) is pitchy, shining : head finely striated, with a faint channel down 

 the face : mandibles ochreous : antennae longish, slender and ochreous ; scape scarcely 

 one-third the entire length, pitchy, except at the extremities : fore part of thorax 

 smooth, with a few comma-shaped impressions and two longitudinal channels in front, 

 hinder portion striated ; scutel roughish punctate-striate ; postscutel regularly and 

 distinctly striated, abrupt and concave behind, the angles not produced. Petiole stout- 

 ish, first nodule punctured, second very smooth and shining, as well as the abdomen, 

 which is tawny, and a little pubescent towards the extremity. Stigma and nervures 

 nearly colourless. Legs ochreous ; thighs and tibiae pitchy, excepting at the extremities : 

 length 2f lines. 



Female (fig. 16) clear ochreous-red : upper side of head, excepting the margin, black, 

 more rugose-striate than in the male ; the clypeus striated, with a band of very fine striae 

 between the antennae, which are fulvous ; mandibles bright ochreous, the teeth pitchy. 

 Thorax similarly sculptured to the male, but the scutel is striated, and the angles of the 

 postscutel form two long, slender, incurved spines : first nodule with a circular cavity on 

 the back, leaving an elevation in the centre ; second pilose : abdomen entirely glossy 

 black, with scattered pale hairs. Legs fulvous, the middle of hinder thighs and tibiae 

 brown. Stigma and nervures visible, pale fulvous : length 3 lines. 



The neuter (fig. 17) resembles the female in form, and is exactly similar in the dispo- 

 sition of the colours, only that the thorax and petiole are of a deeper brick-red, with the 

 legs reddish, and all the thighs and legs are darker. The thorax is contracted in the 

 middle and striate-punctate, forming ridges in front : the pit on the first nodule forms a 

 circular margin with an island in the centre : length 2^ lines. 



This species seems to approach the Formica subterranea of Latreille, but the neuter 

 has the upper surface of the head black, and the first nodule has not a long petiole, as 

 described and represented in all Latreille's figures. The male has not very pale yellow 

 legs ; nor the female a brown, very shining thorax, with a brown petiole. It may be 

 related to Pabricius's F. acervorum, but he describes that species as having the back of the 

 thorax black. 



This new and elegant species I found in July 1850, under a stone, on a heath near 

 Bournemouth in Hampshire. The males were scarce, the females more abundant ; the 

 workers were in considerable numbers, and on being disturbed they ran away with the 

 pupae, hiding themselves in holes and amongst the grass. 



