598 CONNECTICUT GEOL. AND NAT. HIST. SURVEY. [BuU. 



F. pallide-fulva schaufussi Mayr. 



This is one of the commonest species of Formica. It nests 

 in rather small colonies under stones or in small, obscure mound 

 nests in sunny and grassy fields. It is timid and runs rapidly. 

 Its food seems to consist very largely of the excrement of aphids 

 and the carcasses of insects. 



Connecticut (Mayr and Emery) ; New Haven (W. E. B.) ; 

 Winsted, Norfolk, Colebrook (W. M. W.). 



F. pallide-fulva schaufussi var. incerta Emery. 



Common in the same localities as the typical schaufussi, from 

 which it diifers merely in somewhat darker coloration and in 

 having fewer hairs on the chin and petiolar border. It is the 

 host of diificilis var. consocians, 



Branford (H. W. W.) ; Rockville (H. L. V.); Winsted, 

 Norfolk, Colebrook (W. M. W.). 



F. pallide-fulva nitidiventris Emery. 



The workers are smaller than those of the two preceding 

 forms, dark colored, without hairs on the chin and petiolar 

 border, and with more shining and less pubescent gaster. The 

 habits are similar to those of other forms of the species. 



New Haven (P. L. B.) ; Salisbury, New Haven, Orange 

 (W. E. B.) ; Colebrook (W. M. W.). 



°F. pallide-fulva nitidiventris var. fuscata Emery. 



This variety, which is characterized by its dark color and 

 somewhat opaque gaster, can hardly be absent from Connecticut, 

 as it occurs in the adjacent states. 



F. f usca Linnaeus, var. subsericea Say. Silky Ant. 



Next to Lasius niger var. americanus, this is the commonest 

 of our ants and hence also of our insects. It prefers sunny, 

 grassy places, and either constructs dome-shaped mounds which 

 are largest and most definite in outline in the Middle States, or 

 excavates its galleries under stones, boards, the bark of stumps, 

 etc. Except when living in large colonies, it is a very cowardly 

 species. Like the other members of the genus Formica^ it attends 

 aphids, but is equally fond of feeding on the dead bodies of 

 insects. The males and winged females make their appearance 

 during July and August. 



