﻿l82 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  Society, 
  of 
  1877. 
  I 
  was 
  misled 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Smith, 
  of 
  the 
  British 
  Museum. 
  

   Dr. 
  August 
  Forel, 
  however, 
  subsequently 
  corrected 
  my 
  error 
  and 
  des- 
  

   cribed 
  this 
  species 
  as 
  a 
  new 
  one, 
  viz., 
  Formica 
  exsectoides. 
  We 
  have 
  F. 
  

   rufa 
  in 
  this 
  country. 
  I 
  have 
  observed 
  and 
  studied 
  it 
  in 
  Colorado, 
  and 
  

   know 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  Dakotas, 
  but 
  I 
  have 
  no 
  knowledge 
  of 
  its 
  

   being 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  New 
  England 
  States 
  or 
  in 
  Eastern 
  New 
  York 
  " 
  

  

  In 
  consideration 
  of 
  Dr. 
  McCook's 
  expressed 
  deference 
  to 
  Mr. 
  Per- 
  

   gande's 
  views, 
  his 
  letter 
  was 
  submitted 
  to 
  Dr. 
  Howard, 
  chief 
  of 
  the 
  

   Entomological 
  Bureau 
  at 
  Washington, 
  who 
  returned 
  the 
  following 
  com- 
  

   ments 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Pergande: 
  

  

  '' 
  Regarding 
  our 
  mound-making 
  ants 
  I 
  will 
  say 
  that 
  the 
  genuine 
  

   Formica 
  rufa 
  has 
  so 
  far 
  not 
  been 
  found 
  in 
  this 
  country, 
  but 
  that 
  there 
  

   are 
  numerous 
  forms 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  nearly 
  related 
  to 
  it 
  which 
  occur 
  in 
  dif- 
  

   ferent 
  sections 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States. 
  One 
  of 
  these 
  forms, 
  F. 
  exsectoides 
  

   Forel, 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  an 
  exclusively 
  eastern 
  species 
  and 
  has 
  so 
  far 
  been 
  

   found 
  only 
  in 
  Virginia, 
  Pennsylvania, 
  New 
  Jersey 
  and 
  New 
  York, 
  

   whereas 
  the 
  most 
  common 
  form, 
  occurring 
  in 
  Colorado, 
  Utah, 
  Montana, 
  

   Wyoming, 
  the 
  Dakotas 
  and 
  Nebraska, 
  is 
  not 
  F. 
  exsectoides^ 
  as 
  stated 
  by 
  

   Dr. 
  McCook, 
  but 
  F. 
  obsciiripes 
  Forel, 
  which 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  present 
  time 
  has 
  

   not 
  been 
  observed 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  Missouri 
  and 
  Mississippi. 
  As 
  to 
  Cam- 
  

   ponotus 
  Fennsylvanicns, 
  I 
  have 
  never 
  observed 
  it 
  to 
  build 
  extensive 
  nests 
  

   in 
  the 
  ground, 
  either 
  near 
  dwellings 
  or 
  in 
  the 
  woods, 
  although 
  occasion- 
  

   ally 
  I 
  have 
  found 
  small 
  nests 
  under 
  stones 
  near 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  large 
  oak 
  

   trees 
  which 
  were 
  probably 
  connected 
  with 
  breeding 
  chambers 
  ui 
  the 
  

   large 
  and 
  partly 
  decayed 
  roots 
  of 
  the 
  trees. 
  Most 
  commonly 
  I 
  found 
  

   them 
  in 
  dead 
  trunks 
  or 
  stumps, 
  generally 
  oak, 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  perforated 
  

   in 
  all 
  directions 
  by 
  wood-boring 
  larvae. 
  Whether 
  the 
  ants^ 
  which 
  Pro- 
  

   fessor 
  Riley 
  obsewed 
  as 
  having 
  built 
  a 
  large 
  nest 
  in 
  the 
  ground 
  of 
  a 
  back- 
  

   yard 
  in 
  this 
  city 
  really 
  were 
  C. 
  Pennsylvanicus 
  or 
  not, 
  I 
  am 
  unable 
  to 
  say. 
  

   I 
  incline, 
  however, 
  to 
  the 
  belief 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  Formica 
  subsericea 
  Say, 
  

   which 
  has 
  the 
  habit 
  of 
  building 
  large 
  and 
  rather 
  flat 
  nests 
  in 
  the 
  ground." 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  recent 
  " 
  Comstock's 
  Manual 
  for 
  the 
  Study 
  of 
  Insects," 
  Formica 
  

   exsectoides 
  is 
  briefly 
  referred 
  to 
  as 
  being 
  the 
  builder 
  of 
  our 
  largest 
  ant- 
  

   hills; 
  these 
  are 
  often 
  five 
  or 
  six 
  feet 
  across, 
  and 
  sometimes 
  more 
  than 
  

   twice 
  that 
  in 
  diameter. 
  The 
  head 
  and 
  thorax 
  of 
  this 
  ant 
  are 
  rust-red, 
  

   while 
  the 
  legs 
  and 
  abdomen 
  are 
  blackish 
  brown. 
  This 
  species 
  has 
  been 
  

   supposed 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  same 
  as 
  the 
  European 
  wood 
  ant, 
  Foruiica 
  rufa, 
  and 
  

   is 
  referred 
  to 
  in 
  many 
  books 
  under 
  that 
  name. 
  

  

  