wheeler: ants of the genus formica. 529 



low elevations on the slopes of the Coast Range in California. I have 

 found great numbers of its colonies in the sandy bottom of the Arroyo 

 Seco at Pasadena and in the sandy soil about the lake at Lakeside in 

 El Cajon Valley. In the former locality it was li\dng under large 

 stones, in the latter it formed scattered crater nests, much like those 

 of the typical cinerea in sandy portions of the Rhone Valley in Switzer- 

 land. 



112. F. MONTANA Emery. 



F. subpoUta var. ? montana Emery, Zool. jahrb. Syst., 1893, 7, p. 663, S . 

 F. subpolita var. montana Wheeler, Ants, 1910, p. 571. 



Worker. Length 4-4.5 mm. 



Closely resembling F. cinerea in shape, sculpture, and pilosity. 

 Head longer than broad, narrower in front than behind, with broadly 

 rounded posterior corners and feebly convex sides. Eyes large. 

 Clypeus rather bluntly carinate, its anterior border projecting, entire 

 and broadly rounded. Frontal carinae diverging behind. Antennae 

 moderately long, the scapes slightly enlarged at their tips; joints 

 2-5 of the funiculus more slender and slightly longer than the penulti- 

 mate joints. Maxillary palpi rather long. Pro- and mesonotum 

 feebly convex, mesoepinotal constriction shallow, epinotum with sub- 

 eciual base and declivity, the former straight, forming a blunt obtuse 

 angle with the very sloping declivity. Petiole rather narrow, slightly 

 convex in front, flattened behind, the border not very sharp, seen from 

 behind straight and transverse. Gaster and legs of the usual configu- 

 ration. 



Opaque and very densely shagreened; mandibles striatopunctate, 

 glossy. Frontal area slightly shining. 



Hairs pale yellow, abundant, erect, present on the dorsal and gular 

 surface of the head, the thorax, petiole, and gaster; scapes and 

 legs without erect or oblique hairs. Pubescence silvery white, very 

 short, but rather dense, giving the head, thorax, and gaster a pruinose 

 appearance. 



Pale reddish brown, posterodorsal portion of head, tips of mandibles 

 and of funiculi somewhat darker. 



Type locality. — Nebraska: (Th. Pergande). 



Redescribed from one of the cotypes kindly given me by Professor 

 Emery. At first sight this species seems to resemble F. hradleyi 

 of the sanguinea group, but closer examination discloses many dif- 

 ferences. The latter species has a differently shaped head, smaller 

 eyes, a notched clypeus, a shining surface, and much sparser and 

 longer pubescence. I am inclined to believe that montana is merely a 



