124 William Morton Wheeler 



Lasius edentatus Mayr. 



Lasius edentatus Mayr, Beitr. Naturk. Preuss. I, 1868, p. 46 cT ; Dalla Tokee, 

 Catalog. Hymen. VII, 1893, p. 183; Ern. Andre, Bull. Soc. Zool. 

 France, XX, 1895, p. 82; Handlirsch, Foss. Insekt. 1908. p. 861. 



Mayr established this species on a single male specimen in the 

 Menge Coll. It differs from the male of L. schie/ferdeckeri in having 

 the apical border of the mandibles edentate and not marked off by a 

 distinct angle from the basal border. 1 have found no specimens 

 agreeing with this description, either in the Geolog. Inst. Koenigsberg 

 Coll. or in the Klebs Coll. 



Genus formica L. 

 Formica ftori Mayr. 



Formica Flori Mayr, Beitr. Naturk. Preuss. I, 1868, p. 48, Taf. II, Fig. ,35—37, 



F. flori Dalla Torre, Catalog. Hymen. VII. 1893, p. 196; Ern. Andre, Bull. Soc. 

 Zool. France, XX, 1895, p. 82; Handlirsch, Foss. Insekt. 1908, p. 863. 



Mayr described all three phases of this ant, the worker and 

 male from numerous inclusions, the female from a single poorly pre- 

 served and dealated specimen (3737/85) in the Geolog. Inst. Koenigs- 

 berg Coll. He noted the very close resemblance to the recent F. fusca 

 L., with which he believed the amber form might, perhaps, prove 

 to be identical. After the examination of a very long series of spe- 

 cimens of F. flori, including two good females, I can only confirm 

 Mayr's statements. That it is the precursor or ancestor of F. fusca 

 I believe admits of little doubt, but I am not willing to regard the 

 two species as identical. The amber form varies much in size and 

 to a considerable extent also in the shape of the thorax and petiole. 

 Some specimens are much more slender than others. But all such 

 variations may be found in a single colony of the existing fusca and 

 cannot be used as a basis for the description of several species. One 

 of the females, B 16592 in the Geolog. Inst. Koenigsberg Coll., is 

 smaller than the gynetype, and both in this respect and in its pilosity 

 and in having a more compressed petiolar node is much more like 

 the female F. fusca. The wings are beautifully preserved and have a 

 distinct brownish tint as in the existing var. subsericea Say of North 

 America. The other specimen of this sex, which bears no number, 

 is unfortunately not before me as I write, having been previously 

 returned to Koenigsberg with many of the worker specimens. 



F. flori is one of the most abundant and conspicuous ants of 

 the Baltic amber. Mayr saw 189 specimens, Ern. Andre 99. In 



i 



