122 BRITISH ANTS. 



near to M . ruginodis that it is almost certain that intermediate 

 forms exist between these two races. 



I have seen workers, from a colony, discovered at Leith Hill by 

 Arnold on April 18th, 1909, which may be said to represent this 

 variety. 



In these specimens the frontal area is slightly longitudinally 

 striate (which is more pronounced in some individuals than in 

 others), and the scape of the antennae is slightly more bent at the 

 base than in typical ruginodis, otherwise the shape, colour, and 

 general appearance is that of the latter, to which species they are 

 most nearly related. 



Myrmica sulcinodis Nyl. 



Myrmica sulcinodis Nylander Acta. Soc. Sc. Fenn. 2 934 (1846) 1 : 3 27 

 (1849) 2 . Myrmica perelegans Curtis Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond. 21 214 (1854) 3 . 

 Myrmica sulcinodis Mayr Verh. Zool. Bot. Ver. Wien 5 409 (1855) 4 ; F. 

 Smith Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. (n.s.) 3 119 (1855) 5 : 4 279 (1858) 6 : Cat. 

 Brit. Foss. Hym. 24 (1858) 7 . Myrmica rubra race sulcinodis Forel Denkschr. 

 Schweiz. Ges. Naturw. 26 76 8 226 9 38 1 10 (1874). Myrmica sulcinodis Parfitt 

 Trans. Devon Assn. So-Art. 12 515 (1880) 11 ; Saunders Trans. Ent. Soc. 

 Lond. 1880 215 12 ; Er.'Andre Spec. Hym. 2 317 (1881) 13 ; Saunders Ent. 

 Mo. Mag. 22 116 (1885) 14 ; Dalla Torre Cat. Hym. 7 117 (1893) 15 ; Farren- 

 White Ants' Ways 240 (1895) 16 ; Wasmann Biol. Centralb. 15 609 (1895) 17 . 

 Myrmica rubra race sulcinodis Saunders Hym-Acul. 40 (1896) 18 . Myrmica 

 sulcinodis Johnson Irish Nat. 6 57 (1897) 19 . Myrmica rubra race sulcinodis 

 Malloch Fauna, Flora, Geol. Clyde Area 219 (190 1) 20 ; Vic. Hist. Berks 1 

 76 (1906) 21 ; Vic. Hist. Cornwall 1 185 (1906) 22 ; Myrmica rubra v. sulcinodis 

 Saunders Ent. Mo. Mag. 42 61 (1906) 23 . Myrmica sulcinodis Donisthorpe 

 Trans. Leicester Lit-Phil. Soc. 12 228 (1908) 24 ; Emery Deutsch. Ent. 

 Zeitschr. 1908 173 25 ; Ellis and Martineau Ent. Rec. 20 56 (1908) 26 . Myrmica 

 rubra race sulcinodis Morley Irish Nat. 19 185 (1910) 27 . Myrmica sulcinodis 

 Donisthorpe Ent. Rec. 23 11 (1911) 28 : Entom. 44 390 (1911) 29 ; Morley 

 Proc. R. Irish Acad. 31 (24) 3 (1911) 30 ; Orr Irish Nat. 20 76 (1911) 31 ; Donis- 

 thorpe Ent. Rec. 24 5 (1912) 32 ; Evans Scot. Nat. 1912 107 33 ; Donisthorpe 

 Ent. Rec. 25 42 (191 3) 34 ; Hallett Cardiff Nat. Soc. Trans. 45 2 (1913) 35 . 



$ Colour variable ; nearly black to all red, in some specimens the thorax 

 and pedicel are pale red, the head and gaster being blackish brown. In the 

 lighter coloured individuals the posterior part of the head is lighter. The man- 

 dibles are always of a lighter or darker yellow with the teeth fuscous. 



Fig. 67. Antenna of Myrmica sulcinodis ^. 



Head strongly striate longitudinally, which together with transverse 

 ridges form a network at the sides and base ; clypeus rounded and convex ; 

 antennae abruptly bent near the base, with a three- jointed club ; frontal 

 area longitudinally striate. Thorax coarsely striate longitudinally ; epinotal 

 spines strong, fairly long and somewhat convergent, the space between 

 smooth and shining. Petiole and post-petiole coarsely rugose longitudinally, 



