A REVISION OF THE GENUS PROMYRMECIA EMERY (FORMICIDAE) 93 
Promyrmecia aberrans Forel 
Plate XII, fig. 1 
Myrmecia aberrans Forel, Ann. Soc. Ent. Belg., xliv, p. 54, 1900, ¥. Rev. 
Suisse Zool., xviii, p. 9, 1910, 3. 
Myrmecia (Promyrmecia) aberrans Emery, Genera Insectorum, fasc. 118, 
p. 19, pl. 1, fig. 10, 1911, ¥. 
Worker. Length 12 mm. 
Mandibles, clypeus and antennae reddish-yellow; head, mesonotum, sides of 
thorax, postpetiole and gaster black, dorsum of pronotum and epinotum and whole 
of node bright red; legs, including coxae brown, tarsi reddish-brown. 
Shining. Mandibles coarsely and obliquely striate. Head longitudinally striate 
in front, the striae diverging outward behind and almost contouring the eyes, more 
punctate-rugose behind at occipital border, clypeus longitudinally rugose. Pro- 
notum with some obsolete longitudinal striae in middle, transverse in front, almost 
smooth at sides, numerous large shallow punctures. Mesonotum smooth in middle, 
some obsolete longitudinal striae at sides, punctate as on pronotum. Epinotum 
coarsely striate-rugose transversely. Node irregularly rugose, the rugae obsolete 
in middle. Postpetiole, gaster and all the body densely and very finely punctate. 
Hair yellow, short, erect, abundant throughout, shorter and suberect on antennae 
and legs. Pubescence white, very fine, and adpressed, forming a distinct covering 
on postpetiole and gaster but not hiding the sculpture. 
Head as long as broad, sides straight, occipital border concave at middle, angles 
broadly rounded. Mandibles about one-third shorter than head, apical two-thirds 
convex ; inner border almost straight to basal fourth, then abruptly reduced to base, 
furnished with nine short, broad teeth, the ninth forming the basal angle. Scapes 
as long as mandibles, not reaching the occipital border by twice their width at 
apex ; second segment of funiculus one-twelfth longer than first, third equal to first. 
Thorax twice as broad as long; pronotum twice as broad as long, sides and front 
strongly convex, dorsum flat or feebly convex; mesonotum as long as pronotum, 
one-sixth broader than long, convex in all directions, excision deep and narrow; 
epinotum one-fifth longer than broad, feebly convex transversely; in profile 
mesonotum higher than pronotum and epinotum, epinotal excision deep and narrow; 
pronotum evenly convex from apex to base, mesonotum convex, highest in front of 
middle, dropping behind; dorsum of epinotum feebly convex broadly rounded into 
declivity. Node one-sixth broader than long, slightly broader behind than in front, 
convex in all directions; in profile higher than long, anterior and posterior faces 
straight and vertical, dorsum feebly convex, borders rounded; ventral spine trans- 
lucent, broader than long, bluntly pointed. Postpetiole twice as broad as long, 
almost hemispherical, constriction wide. First segment of gaster broader than 
long, broader behind than in front. Legs robust. 
Male and female unknown. 
Habitat.—South Australia: Gawlertown (type locality) ; Wilpena Pound (H. M. 
Hale). 
Distinguished by the black mesonotum on the bright red thorax. 
Wheeler has described several subspecies of aberrans. It is, 
however, evident that the species he regarded as aberrans is the 
Victorian species which I had confused with that species pre- 
viously. As the various forms are not represented in our collec- 
tions the descriptions of these are given entirely from his work. 
