134 HICKORY. TRUNK WALNUT ANT DESCRIBED. 



resemblance to that of Uropoda vegetans (PI. 34, fig. 6), a species 

 which is quite common upon several of our Anperican 'beetles. 



The Ant-tiok measures from 0.010 to 0.015. It is of a cherry red color, younger 

 individuals being translucent and pale reddish; it is shining, with translucent legs 

 clothed with short hairs. It is of a circular form, very slightly longer than wide, 

 flattened, and commonly presents a translucent margin. The legs are shortish, taper 

 gradually, and the feet are not half the thickness of the shanks. The anterior legs 

 have not the slender feet of the three other pairs, but are antennoe-like, and have at 

 their tips several short coarsish hairs and a single bristle slightly longer than these 

 hairs. The palpi or feelers rarely project beyond the anterior margin, and their tips 

 are also clothed with short hairs. 



This ant appears to be a distinct species from those which have 

 been heretofore described, and I therefore propose for it a name 

 in allusion to the situation in which it occurs. It may be distin- 

 guished by the segments of its abdomen being glabrous and 

 polished at their bases and minutely punctured on th^ir posterior 

 half, with two transverse rows of line erect bristles, one in the mid- 

 dle the other at the tip of each segment. The Silky ant (Formica 

 ■ suhsericea) described by Mr. Say in the Boston Journal of Natural 

 History (vol. i. p. 289), is closely related to this Species, but is 

 destitute of punctures on the abdominal segments. 



The MALES of this species measure 0.30 to the tip of the abdomen which is about 

 0.08 in diameter, 0.32 to the tip of the closed wings, and the wings spread 0.45. They 

 are black and shining. The head is nearly globular, and there are, as usual in this sex, 

 three distinct ocelli or little eyes upon the crown, and from the anterior one of these 

 a fine impressed line runs forward to the face. The face is rough and unequal, with 

 impressed punctures, from each of which arises a short hair. The tips of the jaws 

 are tinged with brown; the upper lip is blackish-brown or sometimes cinnamon-yel- 

 low; the feelers are long slender and thread-like, and clothed with fine short hairs; 

 the antenna; arc long and slender, of equal thickness, their tips with an ash-gray re- 

 flection. The thorax is slightly broader than the head, oval, smooth, and without 

 punctures or hairs. T<he abdomen is somewhat wider than the thorax, andcdmposed 

 of seven segments, of which the basal one is contracted as usual, forming a slender 

 pedicel, with an erect hUmp or. scale on the middle of its upper side, which viewed 

 laterally, is of a w?dge-shaped form, short and thick, and bears a few short hairs- 

 its summit is cut off transversely and is distinctly notched in its middle. The re- 

 maining segments form a regular oval mass, rounded at base and pointed at tip. The 

 basal third or half of each segment is glabrous and shining, the remainder is minutely 

 punctulated and clothed with fine short hairs, scarcely perceptible, whilst on each 

 segment are two transverse rows of fine bristles which are sometimes interrupted 

 along the middle of tlie back, one row on the posterior margin, the other near the 

 middle, these bristles arisiDg from ro^s of equidistant punctures. At the tip 



