SOLENOPSIS. 103 



<$ Black, shining, with the mandibles, apex of antennae, tarsi, and extremity 

 of gaster yellowish ; hairs shorter and more upstanding than in the $. Head 

 (except the clypeus) the pronotum, part of the mesonotum, epinotum and 

 pedicel finely rugose ; gaster smooth. Wings as in the $, but more trans- 

 parent. Long. 4-4-8 mm. 



Ovum : Very small, round, white. 



Larva : Pyriform, though somewhat narrowed at the extreme base, 

 covered with short curved hairs. The smaller larva (^ ?) are yellow, smooth 

 and shining, the larger ones (<$ $ ?) are white, duller and more rugose. 



Pupa : Slightly rugose and dull, white, looking as if they had been cut out 

 of wax. Sex pupae adult colour before emergence. 



Original description of Formica fugax Latreille [Ess. Hist. 

 Fourmis France 46 (1798)] : 



" F. fugace. fugax. 



O.t.p. Testacee pale. Abdomen noir a sa base. Mdle. Noir, un peu 

 pubescent, luisant. Antennes, genoux des cuisses, jambes et tarses en grande 

 partie, obcurs. Ailes transparentes. Femelle. Tete, corcelet, noeuds, d'un 

 noir reluisant. Antennes, pattes, d'un brun clair. Anneaux de 1'abdomen 

 d'un brun fonce, roussatres a leur base. Ailes transparentes." 



Habitat. 



Solenopsis fugax is found in South and Central Europe, West 

 and Central Asia, and in Japan ; a variety occurring near the Sea 

 of Aral 30 . 



The British distribution is as follows : 



Dorset : Portland (Richardson) 20 ; Swanage (Nevinson). 



Isle of Wight : Sandown (Fowler) 1Q ; Blackgang (Donisthorpe) 27 . 



Kent, E. : Deal (F. Smith) 7 . 



Essex, S. : Shoebury near Southend (F. Smith)*. 



This ant was first discovered in Britain by Frederick Smith, who 

 exhibited it at a meeting of the Entomological Society of London 

 on September 4th, 1854, under the name of Myrmica flavidula, 

 stating that it was a new species, and that he had taken it at 

 Shoebury near Southend 4 . Subsequently he records that he 

 discovered a colony underground on the shore below Southend in 

 the autumn of 1854, and that he could always find workers by 

 digging, but they never appeared above the surface. Male and 

 female pupae were found in small chambers at the depth of about 

 six inches, though he was never able to rear them 6 ; but he captured 

 a female on the Deal sand-hills in the autumn of 1857 7 . 



It does not appear to have occurred again in England till Easter 

 in 1882, when Fowler found a colony under a stone at Sandown in 

 the Isle of Wight 16 , and again on April 12th, 1884, while collecting 

 at the foot of the Culver Cliffs near Sandown he came across a nest 

 of this ant, and writes as follows " On pulling at a large stone to 

 remove it from the side of the slope in which it was imbedded, the 

 top, which fitted very closely, came off in my hand, and between 





