TAPINOMA. 



scape long, extending slightly beyond the top of the head. Thorax : 

 the pro- and mesonotum convex, obliquely sloping backwards ; the 

 pro-mesonotal suture distinct. Viewed in profile, the thorax is 

 emarginate at the meso-metanotal suture, the basal portion of the 

 metanotuin short, horizontal, much shorter than the obliquely 

 truncate apical portion ; legs stout and long. Pedicel and abdomen 

 much as in T. albipes, the latter slightly more massive 



Length, $ 2-5-3 mm. 



Hob. Assam (Long) ; Upper Burma, Rhsimo(Bingham) ; Southern 

 Shan States (Thompson). 



Genus TAPINOMA. 



Formica, pt., Fabr. Ent. Syst. ii (1793), p. 353. 

 Myrmica, pt., Lepel. Hym. i (1836), p. 185. 

 Tapinoma, I'orst. Hym. Stud, i (1850), p. 43, $> . 



Type, T. erraticum, Latr., from Europe. 



Ranye. Both hemispheres. 



$ . Head with the mandibles scutiform, the occiput broadlv 

 transverse ; mandibles triangular, dentate, the masticatory and 

 outer margins subequal; clypeus broad, its anterior margin 

 narrowly incised in the middle (not incised in the Indian species) ; 

 maxillary 6-, labial palpi 4-jointed ; frontal area obsolete ; antennae 

 filiform. 12-jointed ; eyes comparatively large, lateral, placed a little 

 to the front. Thorax narrower than the head; the pronotum 

 comparatively convex and a little broader than the rest of the 

 thorax ; pro-rneso- and meso-metanotal sutures both distinct, the 

 pro- and mesonotum subequal in length ; the basal portion of the 

 metanotuin very short, the apical portion broad, obliquely truncate, 

 .slightly concave ; legs comparatively long and slender. Pedicel 

 with the node flat, strongly inclined to the front ; abdomen oval, 

 the basal segment gibbous, overhanging the node, and with an 

 almost obsolete fovea on the anterior face for the reception of the 

 node of the pedicel. 



$ . Resembles the , but is larger, with a shorter and com- 

 paratively broader head, and much larger eyes ; ocelli minute but 

 distinct; clypeus not incised anteriorly in the middle. Thorax 

 very massive, broader than the head; the pronotum depressed, 

 vertical, not forming part of the dorsal surface ; mesonotuui large, 

 convex, gibbous in front ; scutellum broad and long ; postscutellum 

 transverse ; median segment or metanotum as in the g , but propor- 

 tionately much larger ; wings ample, fore wing with ouly one closed 

 cubital cell. Pedicel and abdomen as in the $ , but much larger. 



cJ. Resembles the $, but the head is almost triangular, the 

 cheeks straighter, hot so convex, the mandibles narrow, not 

 dentate, but with the apex acute ; the eyes are extraordinarily 

 large and convex, and the ocelli minute and not very distinct. 

 Thorax similar to that of the $ , but the median segment or 

 metanotum is roundlv convex. Pedicel : the node rounded above, 



