82 me. smith's catalogue of hymenopterous insects 



Female. Length 3f lines. Chestnut-red ; the flagellum obscurely red ; 

 the teeth of the mandibles and the eyes black ; the head and thorax 

 above longitudinally strigose, the head more finely so, both sparingly 

 covered with scattered erect fine pale hairs ; the scutellum rugose ; 

 the metathorax with a stout acute short spine on each side at its base ; 

 the central portion of the truncation shining and finely striated longi- 

 tudinally; the legs with scattered pale hairs, the femora dark red 

 towards their base. The nodes of the peduncle of the abdomen 

 rugose ; the first, viewed laterally, wedge-shaped ; the second sub- 

 quadrate, the posterior margin produced into an acute spine ; the 

 second node is produced into an angular tooth or process at its base, 

 and both are sprinkled with long erect hairs. Abdomen ovate, finely 

 punctured, and thinly sprinkled with long pale hairs, most thickly 

 covered towards the apex. 



Hab. Borneo (Sarawak). 



2. Meranoplus cordatus. M. castaneo-rufus ; thorace quadrispi- 

 noso ; abdomine cordato. 



Worker. Length 2 lines. Chestnut-red ; the head and thorax palest ; 

 the head very delicately reticulated ; the eyes small and black, placed 

 at the sides of the head backwards near the vertex ; the clypeus widely 

 truncate in front. Thorax : punctured, the anterior margin somewhat 

 transverse, slightly produced and rounded in the middle, the lateral 

 angles acute; the sides rounded and narrowed to the base of the 

 metathorax ; the posterior margin transverse ; at the angles are long 

 acute spines, with a second shorter spine before them ; the truncated 

 vertical portion of the metathorax has on each side about the middle 

 of the lateral margins a short acute spine. Abdomen : the first node, 

 viewed laterally, is wedge-shaped, the second somewhat quadrate, its 

 posterior margin above produced into an acute spine ; the upper mar- 

 gin of the first node, truncate ; the abdomen heart-shaped, acute at 

 the apex ; the entire insect sprinkled with erect pale hairs. 



Hab. Borneo (Sarawak). 



This is probably the worker of M. castaneus. 



3. Meranoplus mucronatus. M. capite, thorace pedibusque fer- 

 rugineis; abdomine nigro; thorace quadrato ; angulis singulis spina 

 acuta armatis. 



Worker. Length 2 \ lines. The head and thorax ferruginous ; the ab- 

 domen black ; the head coarsely rugose, narrowed before the eyes and 

 widely emarginate in front ; the eyes prominent, behind them the 

 margins are widened slightly to half the distance between them and 

 the posterior angles of the head, towards which the margins are nar- 

 rowed ; the head sprinkled with a few long erect reddish hairs. Tho- 

 rax : quadrate, rugose, with the angles produced into four very long, 

 stout, acute spines ; the hinder margin with two short blunt teeth or 

 spines in the middle, with two minute ones beyond them placed some- 



