240 A. Forel — hidian Ants of the Indian Miisezinij Calcutta. [No. 3, 



margin. Mandibles with 6 teeth, very delicately reticulate, with scat- 

 tered puncture. Legs shining, very delicately reticulate, moderately 

 flattened, but not prismatic ; without prickles. The whole body opaque 

 (the head anteriorly slightly shining), very finely and closely trans- 

 versely wrinkled, microscopically rugged between the wrinkles ; the 

 head partly reticulate. A very scattered and large, often hair-bearing, 

 puncture at the anterior and middle part of the head of the $ major. 

 On the abdomen, the base of the hairs is rather raised. Longer and 

 shorter, often undulating, yellowish erect hairs are scattered over the 

 whole body ; but the tibiae and scapi are only shortly, thinly, and very 

 obliquely pilose (pubescent). A quite applied grey-yellowish pubescence 

 on the whole body, especially on the sides of the thorax, the coxae, 

 and the abdomen. This pubescence is longer and more abundant than 

 in G. sexguttatus, i. sp. 



Colour of the ^ major : the abdomen yellowish, with the anterior 

 part and a narrow transverse fascia by the posterior margin of each seg- 

 ment brownish. Thorax reddish yellow. Head yellowish or brownish 

 red. The head is regularly sprinkled, especially behind, with extremely 

 minute (nearly microscopical), round, brown spots like freckles. Legs 

 and funiculi brownish or yellowish red ; scapi and mandibles brown. 



Colour of the 5 minor : the abdomen differs only in having the 

 three posterior segments entirely brownish. The rest of the body red- 

 dish brown, much darker than in the ^ major. Head without freckles. 

 Legs, antennae, and mandibles brown. 



? . Length about 12 millims. Long, narrow, cylindrical. Scale of 

 the petiole not emarginate. Hesembles the $ major, but less opaque ; the 

 scutellum and abdomen are even moderately shining. Everywhere 

 more or less delicately reticulate, hardly here and there finely wrinkled 

 on the abdomen. Colour of the head, legs, and antennae like that of the 

 $ major; colour of the abdomen rather like that of the $ minor. 

 Thorax and petiole yellowish ar brownish red. Sides of the mesothorax 

 and metathorax, two lateral fasciae on the mesonotum and its anterior 

 part brown. Wings tinged with brownish yellow ; veins and pterostig- 

 ma brownish. Sibsagar (Assam). 



This subspecies is very distinct from G. sexguttatus, i. sp., which 

 besides inhabits South America. But I have lately (E'tudes Myrmeco- 

 logiques en 1879) found the G. extensus, Mayr, from Australia, to be a 

 subspecies of sexguttatus. In the very variable groups of Gamponotus 

 sylvaticusy sexguttatus^ herculeanuSj which are distributed over the whole 

 world, it is better to reduce the number of " species " as much as 

 possible, because these are not constant. According to Mayr (Ants of 

 Turkestar), the G. variegatusj Smith (from Asia), is a variety of G. sylva- 



