190 BRITISH ANTS. 



Head finely rugose, widely emarginate posteriorly ; mandibles furnished 

 with one large tooth at apex. Mesonotum and gaster with large scattered 

 punctures. Wings as in the $. Long. 4-5-5 mm. 



Original description of Formica fuliginosa Latreille [Ess. Hist. 

 Fourmis. France 36 (1798)] : 



" * F. fuligineuse, fuliginosa. 



O. p. Courte, tres-noire, luisante. Antennes, a prendre du coude, genoux 

 et tarses, d'un brun testace. Tete grosse, echancree posterieurement. Ecaille 

 petite. Abdomen globuleux. Male. Couleurs semblables. Ecaille entiere, 

 presque ovee. Ailes anterieures obscures a leur base. Femelle. Tres-noire, 

 courte. Mandibules, antennes et pattes roussatres. Ailes et ecaille du 

 male." 



Habitat. 



Donisthorpea fuliginosa ranges over the greater part of Europe ; 

 Ruzsky records it from the Caucasus, Siberia, and Finland, 

 Bingham from Thana in Western India, and it is found in Japan, 

 but Forel considers the Japanese form to be a variety and has 

 recently named it var. nipponensis. 



In England it is generally distributed as far north as South 

 Lancashire, and South-West Yorkshire, but I have no records for 

 North Devonshire, South Wiltshire, Bedfordshire, Huntingdon- 

 shire, Gloucestershire, Monmouth, Shropshire, or South Lincoln- 

 shire. It has been recorded as " not common " in Durham 43 , but 

 I am rather doubtful about this, as Bagnall who has collected so 

 much in that county and has also hunted for ants' nests, has never 

 come across it ; moreover there are no records for Cumberland, 

 Westmorland, nor the greater part of Yorkshire. Buckton's 

 record of Aphidae in nests of this species " on the moors round 

 Alnwick and near Wooler in Northumberland " 27 is very doubtful, 

 as D. fuliginosa does not harbour " Plant-lice " in its nests, and 

 the moors are not a likely locality for it he must have referred 

 to nests of Formica fusca. 



It does not occur in Scotland, while from Wales I have records 

 only from Glamorgan and Carnarvon, and Ireland from Dublin, 

 Wicklow, Waterford, and South Cork. 



Donisthorpea fuliginosa can be easily recognized by its habits, 

 odour, and nests, and is often abundant where it occurs. It nests in 

 woods, in groups of trees, but also in isolated ones, and may be seen 

 marching steadily along, in long files, on beaten tracks. As long 

 ago as 1747 our countryman Gould described this habit in the 

 following quaint language 3 : " There remains a particular 

 Curiosity to be mentioned with regard to the Jet Ants, which not 

 only deserves Admiration, but strongly tends to illustrate the 

 preceeding Observations, and to show that Man is not the only 

 Partaker of Wisdom. It is remarkable of these Ants, that in 

 carrying on their Employments they Form so many Streets or 



