59,57,96F 



Article XV.— NEW SPECIES OF FORMICA. 



By William Morton Wheeler. 



I. Formica munda sp. nov. 



Worker. — Length, 5-7 mm. 



Allied to F. pcrgandei Emery. Mandibles 8-toothed. Head, e.xcluding 

 mandibles, usually somewhat longer than broad, with straight posterior border 

 and long cheeks converging anteriorly and slightly convex or flattened, but not 

 concave as in pergandei. Clypeus carinate, with a rather deep median notch 

 in its anterior border. Antennae like those of pergandei. Thorax rather nar- 

 row and low, pro- and mesonotum not very convex, mesoepinotal constriction 

 shallow, epinotum long and low, its basal surface rather flat and somewhat 

 longer than the very sloping declivity into which it passes through a rounded 

 angle. Petiole thick and low, convex in front, flattened behind, with very 

 obtuse upper border. Seen from behind the border is transverse, broadly 

 rounded but passing rather abruptly into the straight sides which converge 

 below Gaster small; legs slender. 



Head and thorax subopaque, very finely shagreened. Mandibles, anterior 

 portion of the head, and especially the frontal area and sides of the clypeus 

 more shining. Mandibles sharply striatopunctate. 



Pubescence grayish, very sparse, except on the gaster where, it is long and 

 dense and conceals the shining surface except at the segmental incisures. Hairs 

 on the body white, sparse, suberect and rather long, conspicuous on the upper 

 and lower surfaces of the head, thorax, and gaster. On the gaster they are 

 robust, obtuse, and very regularly distributed. The edge of the petiole is also 

 fringed with hairs, and there .is a row of oblique tapering hairs- on the flexor 

 surface of each tibia. 



Head, thorax, and antennas red; petiole and gaster black, the former with 

 a reddish tinge. Mandibular teeth black. Lower pleurae, and in many speci- 

 mens also the vertex of the head, infuscated. Legs red, coxae, femora, and 

 tibiae more or less blackened except at the articulations. 



Female (dealated). — Length, 7.5-8 mm. 



Resembling the worker except in the following characters : The hairs are of 

 a yellowish cast, and on the gaster tapering and of the same thickness as on the 

 head and thorax, although they are long and in certain lights conspicuous, 

 especially toward the tip of the body. Pleurae clouded with fuscous ; posterior 

 portion of head, posterior edge of pronotum and anteromedian and parapsidal 

 blotches on mesonotum, fuscous. Metanotum and all except the anterior 

 border of the scutellum, black. Petiole varying from dark red to blackish, of 

 the same shape as in the worker except that in profile the superior border is 

 much more acute in some specimens. 



Described from seven females and numerous workers collected in 

 the following localities: Canon City, Breckenridge, and West Cliff, 



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