282 FORMICID^E. 



fields, and all day long a double stream of large, intermediate and 

 small workers could be seen during the hot weather and on fine 

 days, in the breaks in the rains, going empty and returning laden 

 with grass-seeds or paddy. Holcomyrmex moves very slowly, but 

 is dogged and persevering. I can confirm Mr. Wroughton's 

 observation as to these ants leaving a white track across the rocks 

 that their road happens to traverse. An interesting account of 

 Holcomi/rmev scabriceps is given by Mr. Eothney in the ' Transactions 

 of the Entomological Society of London,' 1889, p. 367. 



Key to the Species. 



a. Clypeal teeth present. 



a'. Head entirely striate H. scabriceps, p. 282. 



b'. Anterior half or anterior one-third only of 



head striate. 

 a 2 . Posterior half or two-thirds of head finely, 



closely, but not densely punctate If. criniceps, p. 282. 



b' 2 . Posterior half or two-thirds of head 



smooth, policed and shining H. glaber, p. 284. 



b. Clypeal teeth entirely absent H. muticus, p. 284. 



320. Holcomyrmex criniceps, Mayr, Verh. zool.-bot. Ges. Wien, 



xxviii (1878), p. 672, $ . 



g maj. Eesembles in colour H. scabriceps, but seems to me 

 more variable. Some specimens have the head and thorax dai'k 

 chestnut-brown or even black, and the abdomen dark red. Between 

 these latter and specimens with the bead and thorax light ferru- 

 ginous and abdomen black, nearly all gradations can be found. 

 Differs from H. scabriceps in the head being striate only anteriorly ; 

 from about the middle of the head upwards it is somewhat 

 distantly punctured, more densely so at the sides, the cheeks 

 below being striate. Thorax : the pro-mesonotum finely longi- 

 tudinally striate, the strise curving at the sides, the sculpture 

 being distinctly finer and less rugose than ia H. scabriceps ; the 

 basal portion of the metanotum shorter than the pro-mesonotum, 

 finely transversely striate ; the obtuse triangular tubercles at the 

 posterior lateral angles of the metanotum distinctly larger than in 

 H. scabriceps ; legs as in that species, but proportionately a little 

 shorter. Pedicel and abdomen as in the genus. 



$ min. Closely resembles the maj., much smaller, the head 

 proportionately rather large, the thorax more finely sculptured, 

 the striae on the anterior portion of the head almost obsolete. 



Length, 3'5-5'5 mm. 



Hob. Western India ( Wroughton) ; Southern India (Rotlmey) 

 Ceylon (Yerbury) ; Burma, Pegu Yoma (Allan $ Bingham). 



321. Holcomyrmex scabriceps, Mayr, Verh. zool-bot. Ges. Wien, xxviii 



(1878), p. 672, . 



maj. Head, thorax and pedicel reddish ferruginous ; the 



