218 MR. CURTIS ON THE GENUS MYRMICA, 



15. S. ajlbipennis, Curtis. 



Male very black and shining ; head dull, indistinctly punctured ; mouth ferruginous : 

 antennae tawny, dusky at their tips, the scape and second joint ferruginous, the latter 

 stouter than the third; and elongate obconic. Thorax indistinctly and irregularly 

 striated ; scutel large and glossy ; postscutel convex, delicately punctured, with the angles 

 scarcely visible. Petiole elongated, basal joint clavate, second subglobose : abdomen small, 

 ovate-conic, the tip ochreous. Wings with a pale fuscous-yellow stigma, the nervures 

 almost invisible. Legs long and slender, ochreous-white ; the coxae, thighs and tibiae 

 pitchy, except at their extremities : length 1^, expanse 3 lines. 



Female undiscovered. 



Neuter smooth pale reddish ochre : head large, oblong, convex, finely striated, the 

 margin and clypeus more or less fuscous ; mandibles ochreous. Antennae stout, and 

 ochreous, scape long, second joint stoutish, elongated, third and six following very short, 

 transverse and increasing in diameter, the three last joints forming a stout fuscous 

 club. Thorax much narrower than the head, indistinctly striate-punctate, oblong, nar- 

 rowed at the middle; postscutel producing two distinct acute divaricating dark spines. 

 Petiole stoutish, with a few hairs, basal joint elongate-clavate, subrugose, second globose : 

 abdomen small, very polished, with a few short scattered hairs, ochreous, brown beyond 

 the middle, the apex ochreous. Legs short, stout, and ochreous : length 1 to 1^ line. 



The male of this species greatly resembles that of S. Westwoodii, but independently of 

 its smaller size and somewhat different sculpture, the postscutel has only two minute 

 points, which are scarcely visible ; the tarsi, especially the hinder, are white in some 

 lights, and the nervures of the wings are difficult to discern. 



The only evidence I have of the above insects being the males and neuters of one spe- 

 cies is my having discovered them together. I beat two males and two neuters out of a 

 Privet hedge, the 31st July 1852, on the Polkestone road near Dover. At first I considered 

 the neuters to be small varieties of Myrmica unifasciata, but on obtaining typical speci- 

 mens at Pau, the difference was manifest ; the dark band on the body of that species 

 covering more than half the basal segment, whilst the antennae are entirely fulvous. This 

 strong resemblance however leads me to think that its male may be similar to the same 

 sex of our species, and consequently that it may be a Stenamma, as previously intimated. 



Myrmecina, Curtis. 



16. M. Latreillii, Curt. Brit. Ent. fol. and pi. 265 3 ; graminicola, Poerst. Hymen. 



Stud. p. 58 <? . 



Male smooth shining pitchy black, slightly hairy. Head broad, ocelli very prominent, 

 the anterior one with a little fovea in front : mouth ochreous : antennae longish, geni- 

 culated, 13-jointed, tawny, and slightly thickened towards the apex. Thorax gibbose, the 

 sutures forming large deep channels ; scutel prominent ; postscutel finely striated and 

 producing two short sharp divaricating spines. Petiole stoutish, basal nodule elongated, 

 second subglobose : abdomen ovate-conic. Wings entirely fuscous, stigma and nervures 



