436 bulletin: museum of comparative zoology. 



F. rufa St. truncicola Forel, Denks. Schweiz. gesell. naturw., 1874, 26, p. 52, 



^ 9 c?. 

 F. rufa subsp. truncicola Emery, Deutsch. ent. zeitschr., 1909, p. 187. 



Worker. Length 3.5-8.5 mm. 



Closely resembling F. rufa in form, but pro- and mesonotum 

 often somewhat less con vexed and rounded. Petiole broad, compressed 

 anteroposteriorly, with sharp border, often distinctly notched above. 

 Body, including the gaster, opaque, finely shagreened; mandibles, 

 clypeus, frontal area, and in large workers the anterior part of the 

 head, shining; mandibles finely and superficially striated. 



Hairs short, golden yellow, very abundant, covering the body and 

 legs ; antennal scapes also often with some oblique or suberect, short 

 hairs. Eyes hairy. Pubescence very short and rather sparse. 



Bright red or yellowish red; funiculi and tibiae brown; gaster, 

 with the exception of the anal region and a large yellowish red spot at 

 the base, brownish black. In small workers the vertex and a spot on 

 the pro- and mesonotum are brown, and occasionally the vertex may 

 have a brown spot in large individuals. 



Female. Length 8-9 mm. 



In sculpture, pilosity, and color very similar to the worker. A 

 spot on the vertex, two or three longitudinal stripes on the mesonotum, 

 the scutellum and gaster, with the exception of the basal half of the 

 first segment, tibiae, and antennal funiculi brown. More rarely the 

 head and thorax, with the exception of the scutellum, are entirely 

 red; sometimes each of the gastric segments is red at the base, at least 

 on the ventral side. Gaster less shining than in the typical rufa, 

 more shining than in pratcnsis. Hairs abiuidant, delicate, yellow, 

 varying considerably in length. Wings infuscated towards their 

 bases, with brown veins and stigma. 



Male. Length 7-9 mm. 



Differing from the male of rufa and pratcnsis in being much more 

 hairy. Hairs and pubescence yellowish or grayish, the latter rather 

 long on the gaster, legs, and funiculi. Eyes hairy. Frontal area 

 shining. Head, thorax, and antennae black; petiole and gaster often 

 more brownish black; tips of mandibles, genitalia, and legs, except 

 their coxae, reddish yellow. Wings colored as in the female. 



Host (Temporary). F.fusca. 



North and Middle Europe, Alps, Caucasus, Siberia, Turkestan, 

 Cashmir; Lahoul, on the frontier of Thibet, Eastern Buchara; Is- 

 land of Sachalin. 



Although Forel, Emery, and several other recent authors have 

 regarded F. truncicola as a mere subspecies of rufa, it seems to me to 

 rank as an independent species. This has, indeed, been the view of 



