592 



CONNECTICUT GEOL. AND NAT. HIST. SURVEY. [Bull. 



2. Last three joints of maxillary palpi elongated, of nearly 



equal length 3 



Last three joints of maxillary palpi short, successively 

 diminishing in length j • . 4 



3. Scapes and legs without erect hairs niger var. americanus 



Scapes and legs beset with erect hairs niger var. neoniger 



4. Tips of scapes not quite reaching to posterior corners of 



head brevicomis 



Tips of scapes surpassing posterior corners of head 5 



5. Tips of antennal scapes but slightly surpassing posterior 



corners of head; color pale yellow flavus subspecies nearcticus 

 Tips of antennal scapes extending some distance beyond 

 posterior corners of head; color brownish yellow 6 



6. Gaster subopaque; with appressed hairs 



* umbratus subspecies mixtus var. aphidicola 



Gaster smooth and shining, without appressed hairs 



umbratus mixtus var. speculiventris 



7. Petiole low and blunt above in profile latipes 



Petiole higher, thin, and acute above in profile 8 



8. Penultimate joints of distally incrassated antennal funiculus 



somewhat broader than long; gaster with abundant long 



hairs claviger 



Penultimate joints of but slightly incrassated antennal 

 funiculus not broader than long; gaster with sparse long 

 hairs interjectus 



L. niger Linnaeus, var. americanus Emery. 



This ant, which passes in much of our entomological literature 

 as L. alieniis, is not only the commonest of our numerous species 

 of Lasius, but the most abundant of our ants, and hence, of all 

 our insects. It occurs over the whole of North America except 

 the extreme southern and southwestern portions, from timber- 

 line on the highest mountains to the sands of the seashore. Even 

 in circumscribed localities it shows in its nesting sites great 

 adaptability to different physical conditions, from the damp rotten 

 wood of dense forests to the sandy soil of dry, sunny roads. 

 Usually the workers living in the latter stations are much paler 

 in color than the woodland forms. The nests are indifferently 

 under bark, logs or stones, in rotten wood or in soil. When in 

 the open soil, they are surmounted by small single or clustered 

 craters. Like all of our other species of Lasius, L. niger var. 

 americanus is much given to cultivating root aphids in the cham- 

 bers and galleries of its nests; but, with the exception of the 

 variety neoniger, it is the only one of our forms that is not exclu- 



