OUR ANTS. 179 



Gen. 30. Mekanoplus (Smith). 



I have been unable to obtain any scientific details about this and 

 the preceding genus. Meranoplus is a small ant, which by its hairi- 

 ness reminds one strongly of a Mutilla ; once seen it can never be 

 mistaken for any other ant. The antennae are 9-jointed. 



123. Mer. hicolor (Guerin). 



Poona Dists (24-1-90, $ ). 



Kanara E. H. Aitken. 



Salem, Madras A. Burroughs Sharpe. 



Calcutta G. A. J. Rothney ( 5 , ?, ^,May, 1873). 



Upper and Lower Burma ... E. Y. Watson. 



Ceylon Major Yerbury. 



M. hicolor is very sluggish in her movements ; she rolls herself up 

 into a ball on the smallest provocation, and always dies in that posi- 

 tion. The nest is subterranean, and the ones I have explored were 

 on the typical myrmicine plan ; the grain harvested being brought home 

 * clean' and stored in the subsidiary chambers. I found the entrance 

 to the nest, in one case, strewn with the petals of a lilac flower. 

 Mr. Aitken also notes : " I found several nests last February, with 

 " the ants busy collecting minute bluish flowers ; these were taken 

 " into the nest, something extracted from them, and then the 

 "petals (whole corollas rather) thrown out." 



Gen. 31. Triglyphothrix (Forel). 



To the ordinary observer this genus is apparently a very small 

 Meranoplus ; in it the main hairs are trifurcate, whence its name. A 

 detailed description of this genus has been reprinted in this Journal. 



124. Trig, walshi (Forel). 

 Poona. 



Coonoor, Madras R. W. Daly. 



Pooree, Bengal D. Walsh (type). 



This is the only species of the genus. In its appearance, move- 

 ments, architecture, habits and tricks it is an under-study of Merano- 

 plus. In one nest I opened there were some minute hymenopterous 

 insects which I took at first for S , but which were not so. Unfor- 

 tunately they were blown away while I was examining them under 

 the microscope. They were evidently either pets or cattle. There 



