66 BRITISH ANTS. 



PONERA Latreille. 



(TTO^POS, laborious.) 



Type : Formica coarctata Latr. (=contracta Latr. ; Latr., 1805). 



$ Head oblong oval, quadrangular ; clypeus triangular, narrow, arched, 

 and produced posteriorly ; mandibles long, triangular, with the terminal 

 border dentate and longer than the internal border ; maxillary-palpi one- 

 or two- jointed ; labial-palpi two- jointed ; antennae stout, twelve- join ted, 

 with a four- jointed club, first joint of funiculus longer and broader than 

 the second ; frontal-carinae short, convergent, only separated by the 

 frontal furrow ; eyes very small, situated in front ; ocelli wanting. Thorax 

 narrower than head, convex, truncate posteriorly, with sutures distinct. 

 Pedicel plainly separated from the gaster, furnished with a thick scale which 

 is rounded above, somewhat convex in front, truncate behind, and as high as 

 the gaster. Spurs on all the legs pectinate. Gaster as long as thorax, cylindrical. 



$ very like the ^ ; eyes much larger ; ocelli present. Fore wings with two 

 cubital and one discoidal cell. 



$ somewhat like the ^ ; mandibles narrow and short, not dentate ; 

 maxillary -palpi four- jointed ; labial-palpi three- jointed ; antennae twelve- 

 or thirteen- jointed, scape a little longer than the first joint of the funiculus, 

 the latter being short and sub trans verse, the rest of the joints of the funiculus 

 elongate and filiform ; eyes and ocelli larger than in the $. Wings as in the 

 $, legs longer and more slender than in the ^ and $. 



Original description [Latreille Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. 24 178-9 

 (1804)] :- 



" II. Antennes inserees tres-pres du bord anterieur de la tete. 



1. Antennes grossissant insensiblement vers leur extremite ; premier 

 article faisant presque la moitie de leur longueur, dans les femelles et les 

 mulets ; tete epaisse ; abdomen ovoi'de ou conique ; (palpes maxillaires 

 de la longueur au moins des machoires, sensibles, de quatre a six articles). 



A. Premier article des antennes tou jours decouvert. 



B. Un aiguillon dans les femelles et les mulets. 



a. Second anneau de 1'abdomen separe au plus du suivant par un leger 

 etranglement : pedicule de 1'abdomen n'etant pas forme de deux nceuds 

 tres-distincts. 



** Mandibules des mulets triangulaires. 

 Genre Ponere, Ponera. 



Mes F. etranglees, a 1'exception de la quatrieme subdivision. F. 

 tarsata, clavata Fab." 



Table of the Species. 



Two species of P oner a are found in Britain, which may be dis- 

 tinguished as follows : 



$ 



Maxillary-palpi two- jointed ; more coarsely punctured .... coarctata Latr. 



Maxillary-palpi one- jointed ; very finely and closely punctured 



punctatissima Roger. 



$ 



Eyes not near base of mandibles, smaller ; head narrower . . . coarctata Latr. 

 Eyes near base of mandibles, larger ; head broader punctatissima Roger. 



