7 Som {9iU 
EPITRITUS WHEELERI, N. SP.,. AN ANT NEW TO SCIENOE. 121 
Epitritus wheeleri, n. sp., an Ant new to Science; with Notes 
on the Genus Epitritus, Emery. 
By H. DONISTHORPH, F.Z.S., F.E.S. 
8 Pale reddish-yellow, head, thorax, and petiole rugose, post-petiole 
and gaster shining. Clavate hairs very sparse, eacept on the gaster ; 
round white squamiform hairs all over head and thorax. 
Head cordiform, longer in proportion to its breadth than in EH. emmae, but 
shorter than in H. clypeatus; cheeks with one distinct long clavate hair; clypeus 
triangular, reaching between the antenne as far back as their insertion, longer 
than in Z. emmae, but a little shorter than in H. clypeatus; mandibles long, somewhat 
hollow on their innerside, furnished with a pointed tooth in the centre of its upper 
edge, and two longer teeth at the apex, one proceeding from the upper and the 
other trom the lower edge; antennae: scape broadest near middle, internal border 
rounded and arched, but not angled in the centre (as is the case in H. clypeatus 
and less so in H. emmae), with three round white squamiform hairs placed along 
the edge, between the base and the centre; funiculus with the last joint very 
long, second joint broader and longer than the first, but hardly broader than 
the last, first joint longer than broad. 
Thorax: prothorax with one distinct long clavate hair placed at each humeral 
angle; epinotal spines sharp, somewhat obscured from above by two hairs, 
one clavate, the other squamiform. Petiole elongate anteriorly, nodiform 
posteriorly and higher than the post petiole; post petiole considerably broader than 
the petiole, with a thin layer of whitish spongiform membrane at the junction 
with the gaster, and a thicker layer at the sides and beneath; gaster long oval, 
longitudinally striate at the base. Long, 1-6mm. 
Described from a single worker taken by Dr. R. C. L. Perkins, at 
Honolulu (Oahu), Hawaiian Islands, who dug it up at the root of 
a tree in company with Monomorium and Cardiocondyla. Ihave named 
this ant in honour of my friend Professor Wheeler. Very few species 
of the genus Fpitritus are known, they are all small yellow hypogzic 
ants of obscure habits, and little is known about them except that 
they are found under deeply embedded stones, and at roots of trees, 
etc. They probably often accompany other ants, on whose brood they 
prey, and are all extremely rare, no doubt on account of their 
subterranean existence. They have only four-jointed antenne, the 
lowest number possessed by any ant. 
The genus Epitritus (Haliday in litt.), was described by Hmery 
[Bull. Soc. Ent. Ital., 1, 1386 (1869)], for the reception of a single 
species #. argiolus (Haliday in litt.), which was first taken in Italy by 
A. H. Haliday. 
The following are the species known previously, from the descrip- 
tions of all of which FL. wheeleri differs considerably :— 
1. EHpitritus argiolus, Hmery.—Bull Soc. Ent. Ital., 1, 186-7 (1869). 
Occurs under deeply embedded stones ; Italy, France, Corsica. 
2. Hpitritus emmae, Kmery.—Bull. Soc. Ent. Ital., 22, 70 (1890). 
West Indies: Havana, St. Vincent, St. Thomas. 
3. Hpitritus ewrycerus, Kmery.—Termes Fuzetek, 20, 581 (1897). 
New Guinea. 
4, Hpitritus clypeatus, Szabd.—Arch. Zool., 1 (1909). Singapore, 
New Guinea. 
E. clypeatus, Szabd, var. malesiana, Forel. Zool. Jahrb. Syst., 36, 
June 157uH, 1916. 
