322 FOBMICIDjE. 



dibles comparatively robust, with a much straighter, not oblique, 

 masticatory margin ; clypeus convex, with a very distinct median 

 carina; eyes large, placed somewhat to the front below the middle 

 line of the head. Thorax short and stout, pronotum very convex 

 and vaulted, mesonotum small, seen from above circular ; meso- 

 metanotal suture emarginate; metanotum short and broad, the 

 basal portion somewhat flat and nearly as long as the oblique 

 apical portion ; legs comparatively short and stout. Node of the 

 pedicel low, flat, transverse above ; abdomen massive, much longer 

 than broad. 



Length, $ 2-2'5 mm. 



Ifab. Recorded so far only from the Nilgiris ( Wroughtori). 



364. Plagiolepis rothneyi, Ford, Jour. Bomb. N. H. Soc. viii (1894), 



pp. 414, 415, $. 



$ Black, smooth, polished and shining, the mandibles, antennae 

 and legs reddish brown ; head, thorax and abdomen with sparse, 

 erect, somewhat coarse hairs and a very fine thin pubescence, only 

 to be seen in certain lights. Head without the mandibles nearly 

 square, very slightly emarginate, and a little broader posteriorly 

 than in front ; mandibles triangular, the masticatory margin 

 broad, dentate and nearly straight, not so oblique aa in P. lonc/icornis ; 

 clypeus not carinate, convex and tectiform, the medial angle on its 

 anterior margin not well-marked, not covering any portion of the 

 mandibles. Thorax not so broad as the head, the pronotum very 

 convex and rounded in front ; mesonotum nearly as long as the 

 pronotum ; the meso-metanotal suture very distinct, deep and wide ; 

 metanotum large, broad and flat, posteriorly its basal and apical 

 obliquely sloping flat portions about equal. Node of the pedicel 

 low, thick at base, slightly conical and rounded, but broader than 

 long at apex ; abdomen very broad, convex and massive, gibbous 

 in front. 



Length, % 2-5-4-5 mm. 



Hab. Recorded from Bengal (Rothney} and Western India 

 ( Wroughtori). 



Some of the smaller workers are much lighter in colour, dark 

 chestnut-red instead of black, with proportionately longer heads 

 and larger mandibles with oblique masticatory margins. 



365. Plagiolepis watsoni, Forel 



Plaeiolepis rothneyi, race watsoni, Forel, Jour. Bomb. N. H. Soc. 

 viii (1894), p. 416, $ . 



$ . Very similar to P. rothneyi, and about the same size. Differs 

 in having the clypeus distinctly carinate, the mandibles propor- 

 tionately smaller, the masticatory margin very oblique, the apical 

 tooth long, acute and curved ; ocelli entirely wanting ; antennae 

 more slender and with the scape slightly longer. Pilosity and 

 pubescence much more abundant than in P. rothneyi. Viewed 



