IIOLCOMYRMEX. 281 



rounded ; mandibles very thick and massive, much curved, the 

 masticatory margin obtuse, indistinctly dentate ; clypeus narrow, 

 produced posteriorly between the bases of the antennae and rounded, 

 anteriorly more or less irregular, transverse, with a carina on each side 

 of a medial portion, the carinas projecting and ending in blunt teeth ; 

 antennal carinae short, wide apart, prominent ; antennas 12-jointed, 

 the club of the flagellum indistinct, formed of the apical three 

 joints ; eyes rather small, circular, lateral, placed below the middle 

 line of the head. Thorax massive, the pro-mesonotum forming 

 one somewhat raised convexity ; pro-mesonotal suture obsolete ; 

 meso-metanotal suture distinct ; the thorax in profile slightly 

 emarginate at the suture; metanotum comparatively long, the 

 basal portion level and slightly flat above, the posterior lateral 

 angles subtuberculate, the sides finely longitudinally carinate; the 

 apex obliquely truncate ; legs somewhat short and slender, the 

 spur on the posterior tibiao simple. Pedicel : the 1st node 

 petiolate in front, viewed in profile higher than the 2nd, sub- 

 triangular, conical and rounded at the top ; 2nd subglobose, as broad 

 as long, attached to the abdomen by the whole of its posterior 

 face ; abdomen broad, rather flat, truncate anteriorly, the 1st 

 segment covering more than half the whole length. 



min. Very similar, smaller, with proportionately a much 

 smaller head, the mandibles not so thick and massive, tridentate. 



$ . Very large ; head not enlarged, proportionately shorter and 

 broader, without the mandibles broader than long ; mandibles, 

 clypeus, antennal carinae, and antenna? as in the maj. ; ocelli 

 present. Thorax massive ; pronotum vertical, suppressed under- 

 neath the long, broad, somewhat gibbous mesonotum ; scutellum 

 large, rounded posteriorly ; the basal portion of metanotum very 

 short and sloping, but distinct, apical portion truncate ; legs as in 

 the maj.; wings broad and ample, fore wing with one long 

 cubital and one short nearly square discoidal cell. Pedicel as iu 

 the maj. ; abdomen rather massive, about two and a half times 

 as long as broad and slightly truncate, anteriorly rounded and 

 convex above. 



c? . Head very small, eyes and ocelli very large and prominent ; 

 mandibles broad, triangular, with a distinct dentate masticatory 

 margin, clypeus obscurely bicarinate ; antennae 13-jointed, the 

 scape very' short, shorter than the 2nd joint of the flagellum. 

 Thorax massive, smaller than but similar to that of the $ ; 

 metanotum longer, the apex subconcave : legs and wings as in 

 the $ . Pedicel similar to that of the $ ; abdomen narrower, 

 posteriorly subacute. 



The species of this genus are vegetarians and harvesters, like 

 the species of Messor, to which they are very closely allied. 

 H. criniceps was fairly common in the Pegu Yoiua in Burma, and 

 one very populous nest, which was close to some paddy-fields near 

 a Forest reserve, I had under observation, off and on, for over two 

 vears Eegnlarly beaten tracks radiated from it to the paddy- 



