wheeler: ants of the genus formica. 429 



F. rufa St. pratensis Forel, Denies. Schweiz. gesell. naturw., 1874, 26, p. 52, 



y ? o^ 



F. prate?isis Dalla Torre, Catalog. Hymen., 1893, 7, p. 204. 

 F. rufa subsp. pratensis Ruzsky, Formicar. Imper. Ross., 1905, p. 337; Emery, 

 Deutsch. ent. zeitschr., 1909, p. 186, ^ 9 cf . 



Worker. Whole body and appendages, except antennae, covered 

 with rather short but dense, suberect hairs. Eyes hairy. Funda- 

 mental colors as in the typical rufa, but the black spot on the head is 

 larger, the spot on the pronotum reaches the posterior border of the 

 segment and there fuses with a black spot on the mesonotum. Legs 

 very largely brown ; gaster entirely black. 



Female. Very similar to the female of the typical rufa; hairs 

 sparse; eye sparsely' hairy. Gaster subopaque or opaque, pubescent, 

 brownish black except for a small basal and anal red spot. 



Male. Usually, but not always distinguishable from the male of 

 rufa merely by its more abundant pilosity. 



Host (Temporary) . F. fusca. 



Northern and Middle Europe, Siberia, Island of Sakhalin; in 

 Europe ranging southward to Southern Italy in the high mountains. 



This subspecies prefers to nest in meadows, fields, or along the bor- 

 ders of woods and hedges. The nests are similar to those of rufa and 

 are single or in groups, but of average smaller size. 



F. rufa pratensis is, like rufa, a temporary social parasite on F. fusca. 

 In Southern Europe it probably prefers the var. gleharia of this ant as 

 a host. 



25. F. rufa pratensis var. nigricans Emery, 



F rufa var. nigricans Emery, Deutsch. ent. zeitschr., 1909, p. 187, y . 



Worker. Color darker than that of the typical pratensis, the black 

 spots on the thorax more extensive; legs brownish black with brown- 

 ish red coxae and knees. 



This is a southern form occurring in the Maritime Alps, Spain, and 

 the Apennines (Vallombrosa), according to Emery. 



26. F. RUFA pratensis var. truncicolo-pratensis Forel. 



F. rufa St. pratensis var. truncicolo-pratensis Forel, Fourmis Suisse, 1874, p. 53; 



Ruzsky, Formicar. Imper. Ross., 1905, p. 348, ^ 9 d^. 

 F. rufa pratensis var. truncicolo-pratensis Emery, Deutsch. ent. zeitschr., 1909, 



p. 187. 



