wheeler: ants of the genus formica. 513 



94. F. GAGATES Latreille. 



F. gagates Latreille, Essai hist, fourmis France, 1798, p. 36, S 9 ; Hist. nat. 

 fourmis, 1802, p. 138, pi. 5, fig. 26, S 9 ; Lepeletier, Hist. nat. insect. 

 Hymen., 1836, 1, p. 200, ^ 9 ; Mayr, Verh. Zool. bot. ver. Wien, 1855, 5, 

 p. 347, y 9 cf^; Europ. Formicid., 1861, p. 46, ^ 9 6"; Ern. Andr6, 

 Spec. Hymen. Europ., 1882, 2, pt. 14, p. 182, 189, ^ 9 d'] Dalla Torre, 

 Catalog. Hymen., 1893, 7, p. 198. 



F. fusca St. gagates Forel, Denies. Schweiz. gesell. Naturw., 1874, 26, p. 53, 

 217, y 9 cf. 



F. fusca gagates var. muralewiczi Ruzsky, Formicar. Imper Ross., 1905, p. 384. 



F. fusca subsp. gagates Emery, Deutsch. ent. zeitschr., 1909, p. 194, fig. 7, ^ 

 9 d". 



Worker. Length 5-7.5 mm. 



Closely related to F. fusca. Large and robust. Epinotum in pro- 

 file rounded, without an angle between the base and declivity. Peti- 

 ole broad, much compressed anteroposteriorly, with thin, sharp border. 



Nearly the whole body smooth and shining, usually also the frontal 

 area. Gaster very shining, very finely and transversely shagreened. 



Hairs whitish, coarse, rather abundant on the gaster but very sparse 

 elsewhere. Pubescence short and sparse, not conceahng the shining 

 surface. 



Body deep black, mandibles dark brown, antennae, except their 

 tips and legs, dark red or brown, with middle portion of the femora and 

 tibiae sometimes black. 



Female. Length 9-11 mm. 



Body robust. Head and thorax slightly, gaster more shining; 

 Mesonotum with a few scattered foveolae. Pubescence on gaster very 

 sparse. Color like that of the worker. Wings usually deeply and 

 uniformly infuscated. 



Male. Length 9-10 mm. 



Closely resembling the male of the typical fusca in color and sculp- 

 ture but the pubescence longer and more abundant so that the body 

 has a silky luster. Hairs almost absent, except on the venter. Petiole 

 thick, with very blunt, entire or nearly entire superior border. 



This form, which I would regard as an independent species and 

 not as a subspecies of fusca, is confined to Asia Minor and Southern 

 Europe (Southern France, Italy, Southern Germany, Austro-Hungary, 

 the Balkan Peninsula, and the Crimea). According to Emery, Mayr 

 detected transitions between this form and F. fusca picea in material 

 from the Caucasus. Forel, who has studied the habits of gagates 

 in Austria and Canton Ticino, Switzerland, found it nesting in oak 

 forests under large stones and roots. The galleries are large and deep. 



