a 
1910] Wheeler—North American Forms of Lasius umbratus 235 
Odinia picta Loew. 
There seems to be no record of the occurrence of this species 
since it was described from Georgia. A specimen was taken by 
the writer at Glenside, Pa., June 2, 1895. A second specimen 
from Branford, Conn., June 23, was collected by Mr. H. L. 
Viereck. 
THE NORTH AMERICAN FORMS OF LASIUS UMBRA- 
TUS NYLANDER.! 
By Witu1am Morton WHEELER. 
Like many other ants that are peculiar to the north temperate 
zone, Lasius umbratus is very widely distributed and presents a 
number of local subspecies and varieties. In the Old World it 
ranges from England to Japan, through northern and central 
Eurasia; in North America from Nova Scotia and the Atlantic 
States to the Rocky Mountains and will probably be found on the 
Pacific Coast, at least in the mountains of California or at lower 
elevations in Washington and Oregon. According to Forel and 
Emery the species is represented in Europe by four subspecies, 
namely, the typical wnbratus Nyl., mixtus Nyl., affinis Schenk and 
bicornis Forster. To these Ruzsky has added a fifth, exacutus, from 
Oriental Russia. To judge from a female specimen in my collection, 
the Japanese form is indistinguishable from the typical wmbratus. 
Transitional forms which Forel has called mixto-wmbratus occur in 
Switzerland, and others which Ruzsky has called wmbrato-affinis 
have been taken in eastern Russia. Mayr cited three forms from 
the United States: miztus, affinis and bicornis, but Emery has 
shown that the first of these differs slightly from the European 
mixtus and had been previously described by Walsh as Formica 
aphidicola, and that the last is a distinct subspecies which he has 
called minutus. He was unable to find affinis among his American 
material and I have been equally unsuccessful. This form, there- 
fore, is probably not represented on our continent. More recently 

1Contributions from the Entomological Laboratory of the Bussey Institution, Harvard 
University, No. 30. 
