510 bulletin: museum of comparative zoology. 



small, more or less confluent craters not unlike the nests of F. 

 suhsericea in grassy places in the Eastern States, or of F. cinerea in 

 sandy river valleys of Southern Europe. It is readily enslaved by the 

 forms of sanguinca inhabiting the same region. The males and winged 

 females mature during the latter half of July. 



Mr. Geo. B. King has recorded the variety neodara from Essex 

 County, Mass., and I possess eight specimens bearing labels with this 

 locality. They resemble Colorado specimens very closely, except 

 that the petiole is not emarginate and therefore not cordate when 

 seen from behind, and the gaster is not infuscated. These specimens 

 may represent a distinct variety. If they are really specimens of 

 neodara, I am unable to account for their occurrence in Massachusetts 

 unless they were accidentally introduced from the West. Of course, 

 the locality labels may be erroneous. 



91. F. FuscA FUSCA var. blanda, var. nov. 



Worker. Length 3-3.5 mm. 



Resembling neodara, but smaller, with the whole body reddish 

 brown, the legs, antennae, and mandibles paler, the head, gaster, and 

 tips of funiculi not infuscated. Subopaque and very densely and 

 finely punctate or shagreened, the head and gaster slightly shining. 

 Frontal area opaque. Hairs and pubescence white, the former short 

 and very sparse, absent on the thorax, the latter very fine and short, 

 rather dense on the gaster, shorter on the head and thorax. Thorax 

 with very feeble mesoepinotal constriction, epinotum rather long, 

 obtusely angular in profile, its base longer than the declivity which is 

 very sloping. Petiole rather thick and blunt, with entire and rounded 

 superior border. 



Described from a dozen workers taken by Prof. Trevor Kincaid at 

 Olympia, Washington (type locality), six workers taken by the same 

 collector at Seattle, Wash., two workers taken by Mr. J. C. Bradley 

 in the Yosemite Valley and four workers taken by the same collector 

 at Lemon Cove, Tulare County, California. The status of this 

 variety is somewhat problematical. It may be merely a very pale 

 form of the var. marcida, although there is little variation in the series 

 of workers examined. They differ from the worker neodara in the 

 uniform brown color of the body, the shorter and more delicate pubes- 

 cence, the absence of a notch in the petiolar border, the narrower head 

 and smaller size. 



