32 MR. F. SMITH ON SOME NEW SPECIES OF ANTS 
tions on the habits of one or two species are added in the hope of 
contributing to the dissemination of a knowledge of the marvel- 
lous history of the economy of this most interesting family of 
insects. 
Fam. FORMICID, Leach. 
Gen. Formtoa, Linn. 
ForMIcA CoMPREsSSA. F. nigra, thorace compresso, antennis apice 
femoribusque rufis, capite maximo. 
Formica compressa, Fabr. Ent. Syst. ii. 353. 2.; Latr. Fourm. p. 111. 
This species is found in Egypt, in most parts of India, in China, and I 
have also seen examples from the Philippines. The worker major differs 
greatly in form from the worker minor ; it is nearly seven lines in length, 
is black, with the base of the legs pale red, its head being larger and wider 
than the abdomen. ‘The other form of the worker is smaller, the thorax 
and legs pale, the head oblong and narrower than the abdomen, the latter 
being frequently more or less pale at the base. Taken on the north shore 
of the Dead Sea. 
ForMICA VIATICA. Sanguinea, opaca, antennis pedibusque rufo- 
brunneo; abdomine nigro-fusco. 
Formica viatica, Fabr. Ent. Syst. ti. 356. 27 ; Syst. Piez. p. 404. 33.9. 
—Formica bicolor, Fabr. Ent. Syst. ii. 351.5; Syst. Piez. p. 398. 
8. §.—Formica megalochola, Foerst. Verh. d. naturh. Ver. d. Rheini. 
vii. 485. $ .—Cataglyphis Fairmairei, Foerst. Verh. d. naturh. Ver. d. 
Rheinl. vii. 485. $.—Monocombus viaticus, Mayr, Form. Austr. 
ps L051: 
This ant and the Atta cephalotes, according to the information that I 
have been able to obtain, are usually, if not always, found in the same 
localities ; and it would appear that, in some degree, they are dependent on 
each other. It is now a well-ascertained fact, that other species, in the 
fulfilment of their economy, require the aid of a distinct race, or rather are 
dependent on slave-labour for the rearing of their young brood, and for 
the performance of many other offices connected with the duties of their 
formicarium. 
The connexion between the F. viatica and Atta cephalotes appears to be 
similar to that which exists between F. sanguinea and F. fusca. The sub- 
stance of the following account was communicated by M. Roussel to Dr. 
Nylander. M. Roussel observes that both species are common in Algeria, 
that they live in numerous societies, and construct their formicaria 
usually in banks, frequently at road-sides. It would appear that fierce 
combats take place occasionally between the Formice and the Atte, the 
former being always victorious, and carrying off captive numbers of the 
Atte, which henceforth become the nurse-slaves of F. viatica. M. Roussel 
frequently observed evidences of fierce encounters between these species of 
ants, having found the ground in the vicinity ‘of the nests of the Atte 
