101' Mr. T. C. Jerdon on new species of Ants 



When they take wing, they do so in vast numbers, and always 

 at night. 



33. Formica angusticollis, Jerdon (p. 120). 



Worker, ^ an inch long ; head long, oblong, ending posteriorly 

 in a narrow neck ; eyes posterior, of moderate size ; jaws trian- 

 gular, strongly toothed ; antennae long ; thorax low, narrow, 

 uniform; abdominal pedicle conical, high, narrow; abdomen 

 oval ; colour dull black, with antennae and legs rufous. 



Warrior, j^^thsof an inch long; head very large, notched pos- 

 teriorly; eyes much smaller; otherwise similar. I have only 

 found this ant in forests in Malabar, and always singly. 



34. Formica smaragdina, Fabr. (p. 121). 



Worker, length about y^^ths of an inch; head long, triangular; 

 antennae long ; eyes large, medial ; jaws triangular, pointed, with 

 sharp teeth ; thorax not furrowed ; abdominal pedicle long, low, 

 narrow, linear ; legs long ; colour of a uniform pale rufous. 



Male, Z^ths of an inch long ; head diamond-shaped ; eyes 

 lateral, small ; thorax raised in front ; abdomen small ; wings 

 reaching beyond the abdomen ; of a rufous colour. 



Female, ^ths of an inch long ; head short, triangular ; eyes 

 lateral ; three ocelli ; thoi-ax very large, wide ; abdominal pedicle 

 wide in the middle as viewed from above, very thin laterally ; 

 abdomen large ; wings reaching beyond abdomen ; entirely of a 

 pale shining green colour. 



This ant is well known in Malabar and the wooded parts of 

 India, but is rare in the Carnatic, where I have only seen it in 

 one or two large mango-groves. It forms a nest of living leaves 

 which it draws together without detaching from the branch, and 

 unites with a fine white web ; sometimes this nest is above a 

 foot in diameter, but usually smaller. The society consists of 

 a vast number of individuals, and in large nests we find many 

 females and males, both with and without their wings at all 

 times of the year. They are very bold and pugnacious, and bite 

 very severely. They live chiefly on vegetable secretions, and are 

 very partial to the flowers and buds of some of the Loranthi 

 which abound so on the western coast ; they often form a tem- 

 porary web round the flowers, or sometimes round the fruit of 

 various trees, viz. the Eugenia malaccensis, Artahothrys odora- 

 tissima, &c., apparently only for the purpose of feeding undis- 

 turbed ; they will, however, also sometimes feed on decaying 

 animal matter. It is said that the web they form is occasionally 

 used in writing on in the N.W. provinces of India, and that the 

 ants are made use of to destroy a nest of wasps that may have 

 established themselves in a house. In this case they are said to 



