114 Mr. Smith's Essay on the Genera and 



Formica contractu, Latr. Hist. Nat. Founn., 195, tab. 7, fig. 



40, 2 ; Fabr. Syst. Piez., p. 410, 58. 

 Ponera contractu, Latr. Gen. Crust, et Ins., iv. p. 128 ; St. 



Farg. Hym., i. 195, 8 ; Steph. lllus. Brit. 



Ent. Supp., p. 15, tab. 42, fig. 2 ; Foerster, 



Hym. Stud. Form,, p. 45. 



Female. — Length If h'n. Elongate, subcylindrical, shining 

 rufo-fuscous ; the antennae, clypeus and mandibles rufo-testa- 

 ceous ; the eyes large and ovate, situated anteriorly at the sides 

 of the head, opposite the insertion of the antennas, which ap- 

 proximate at their base; the ocelli placed in a triangle on the 

 vertex ; a longitudinal impressed line extends from the anterior 

 stemma to the base of the antennae ; the vertex slightly emargi- 

 nate its entire width. Thorax elongate, the sides nearly pa- 

 rallel, rounded anteriorly; the metathorax sub -truncate, very 

 slightly oblique ; the scutellum, post-scutellum and legs, rufo- 

 testaceous, the tarsi palest ; wings having one elongate mar- 

 ginal cell, two elongate submarginal, and one discoidal cell. 

 Abdomen, the node incrassate, vertical, rising above the base 

 of the following segment, rounded above ; the margins of the 

 second and third segments constricted ; the extreme apex pale 

 rufo-testaceous. 



Worker. — Black, or dark fuscous ; elongate "and sub-cylindrical ; 

 smooth and shining ; head elongate, wider than the thorax, very 

 finely and closely punctured ; eyes and ocelli wanting ; the face 

 below the insertion of the antennae, the latter, as well as the legs 

 and extreme apex of the abdomen, rufo-testaceous ; the mandibles 

 large and triangular, their inner edge very finely denticulate ; 

 the flagellum clavate ; the prothorax convex, rounded ante- 

 riorly, behirid which the thorax is compressed ; the metathorax 

 slightly oblique : scale of the abdomen thickened, broad, and 

 rounded above ; the margins of the two following segments 

 constricted, the first most strongly so ; the margins obscurely 

 rufo-testaceous ; the apex pale rufo-testaceous. 



This insect was discovered to be indigenous by Mr. J. O. West- 

 wood, who captured it in St. James's Park. 



I only possess the worker and female ; the diagnosis of the 

 male is from a foreign specimen. P. contractu is rare in this 

 country; its communities being small and their living under 

 stones and other substances, as well as tluir minute size, combine 

 to render their detection difl[icult. I have never seen the insect 

 alive. 



