PONERA. 71 



were all sex pupae and most of them had been devoured by the 

 workers, since the ants were not observed to have eaten anything ; 

 he again kept a small community in damp moss, but this proved a 

 failure, the ants dying and the pupae withering up 28 ; four dealated 

 females and some twelve workers were kept by me in a small 

 plaster nest, the ants would not touch the honey given to them, 

 but eagerly devoured small flies, they however all gradually died 

 off, the females not being observed to lay any eggs 37 ; another 

 small colony was kept in a glass nest, but most of the ants managed 

 to escape, and the remainder died off 40 ; in May, 1913, three 

 females, with a packet of eggs, and twenty-eight workers were 

 placed in a small well-fitting Crawley-Lubbock nest, the females 

 rested in a small cell in the earth in the middle of the nest and the 

 workers tunnelled long narrow winding passages through the earth 

 in all directions, small flies were dragged in and devoured, but the 

 eggs disappeared, probably having also been eaten, and no more 

 were observed to be laid, though the colony seemed in good con- 

 dition and no deaths had occurred, when in August the nest was 

 placed in a conservatory and the heat killed them all in one day. 



Ponera punctatissima Roger. 



Ponera punctatissima Roger Berlin Ent. Zeitscbr. 3 246 (1859) 1 . Ponera 

 androgyna Roger Berlin Ent. Zeitschr. 3 246 (1859) 2 . Ponera contracta 

 Meinert Naturv. Afh. Dansk. Vid. Selsk. 5 50 (I860) 3 . Ponera punctatissima 

 F. Smith Ent. Ann. 1861 42 4 ; Forel Denkschr. Schweiz. Ges. Naturw. 26 

 62 411 (1874) 5 . Ponera ochracea Charsley Ent. Mo. Mag. 14 69 (1877) 6 . 

 Ponera tarda Charsley Ent. Mo. Mag. 14 162 (1877) 7 . Ponera punctatissima 

 Saunders Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 1880 212 8 : Ent. Mo. Mag. 23 68 (1886) 9 ; 

 Dalla Torre Cat. Hym. 7 41 (1893) 10 ; Farren- White Ants' Ways 239 (1895) 11 ; 

 Saunders Hym-Acul. 29 (1896) 12 ; Vic. Hist. Essex 1 99 (1903) 13 ; Chitty 

 Ent. Rec. 18 161 (1906) 14 ; Godfrey Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinb. 1907 

 No. 17 102 15 ; Vic. Hist. Kent 1 116 (1908) 16 ; Donisthorpe Trans. Leicester 

 Lit-Phil. Soc. 12 225 (1908) 17 ; Emery Deutschr. Ent. Zeitschr. 1909 374 18 : 

 Genera Insect. 118 91 (191 1) 19 ; Donisthorpe Ent. Rec. 23 13 (191 1) 20 . 



^ The whole insect is very pubescent especially on the thorax and gaster 

 and is much more finely and closely punctured than P. coarctata, colour variable, 

 a little darker than the darkest forms of the latter, to entirely reddish yellow* 



Head a little broader and shorter than in P. coarctata ; mandibles with 

 terminal borders furnished with three or four stronger teeth, and with 

 numerous, smaller, irregular teeth posteriorly ; maxillary palpi one- jointed, 

 not terminated by a hair ; gaster beneath extremely finely rugose trans- 

 versely at the anterior portion of the second segment. Long, 2-8-3 mm. 



$ Very like the ^ ; Head broader than in P. coarctata, with larger eyes 

 nearly touching the base of the mandibles. Long, 3-5-3-8 mm. 



(J Shining reddish yellow, very ergatoid, apterous. 



Head larger, broader, and more parallel than in the ty ; mandibles broader 

 and with stronger teeth than in the Q ; eyes small, situated near base of 

 mandibles ; antennae twelve-jointed, scape shorter than in the Q, but much 

 longer than in the $ of P. coarctata, funiculus with the last three joints broader, 

 more transverse and more globose than in the ty, forming a fairly distinct 

 club. Gaster with seven distinct segments ; pygidium simple. Long, 3-5 mm. 



For the very remarkable genital armature see Fig. 29. 



