MYRMECINA LATREILLII. 37 



testaceis ; scapo brevi, crassiusculo, fusco ; pedibus testaceo- 



rufis ; alis fuseo-brunneis. 



Myrmecina Latreillii, Curtis, Brit. Ent. vi. 265 <J ; Trans. Linn. 

 Soc. xxi. 218, 16. t.23.f. 22?. 



Smith, Brit. Form. 1 32. 1 ? $. 



Mayr, Form. Austr. p. 149. 1 S 9 £ • 

 Myrraica striatula, Nyl. Addit. Alt. Mon. Form. Bor. Eur. p. 40. 7. 

 Myrmica bidens, Foerst. Hym. Stud. Form. p. 50. 24 $ $ . 



Schenck, Beschr. Nass. Ameis. p. 94. 

 Myrmica graminicola, Foerst. Hym. Stud. Form. p. 58. 30 £ . 



Female. Length 1 f line. — Black ; the head anteriorly, the an- 

 tennae, mandibles, legs, thorax beneath, metathorax, and nodes 

 of the petiole, rufo-testaceous ; the scape stont, and elbowed at 

 the base; the club of the antennae 3-jointed; the mandibles 

 denticulate on their inner margin ; the clypeus bidentate ; the 

 head longitudinally rugose-striate. Thorax smaller than the 

 head, longitudinally rugose-striate ; the scutellum smooth and 

 shining ; the metathoracic spines stout and acute ; the wings 

 fuscous, their margins ciliated. Abdomen smooth and shining, 

 with thin scattered glittering pubescence. 



Worker. Length H line.— Black ; the head anteriorly, the 

 antennae and legs rufous ; the head and thorax longitudinally 

 striated ; the clypeus bidentate ; the metathorax with two stout 

 horizontal spines. 



Male. Length H line. — Pitchy-black, smooth and shining, 

 thinly pubescent ; the mouth, fkgellum and legs pale rufo- 

 testaceous ; the antennae pubescent ; the scutellum smooth and 

 shining, the sides striated; the metathorax deeply excavated 

 in the middle, obliquely striated on each side ; the wings fuscous, 

 their margins ciliated" Abdomen oblong-ovate, with a thinly 

 scattered pubescence ; the nodes of the petiole finely rugose. 



This species was discovered by Mr. Curtis in 1 829, near Black 

 Gang Chine in the Isle of Wight ; at that time Mr. Curtis had only 

 captured males. The genus was established in 1829, in the sixth 

 volume of 'British Entomology,' accompanied by a beautiful 

 figure, forming one of a series of entomological illustrations which 

 cannot be surpassed in their beauty and accuracy. I have taken 

 two males and two females, one of each in the vicinity of London, 

 but up to the present time no one has discovered the workers. 

 I also took a male and female at Luccomb Chine. The societies 

 of Myrmecina must, I suspect, be very small, and their habits 

 somewhat different from the majority of the Myrmicidce, as they 

 are so seldom seen, and those sexes only which are usually the 

 most rarely met with. 



