Mem. Nat. Mus. Vict., 15, 1947 



NEW SPECIES OF THE GENERA PROLASIUS FOREL 

 AND MELOPHORUS LUBBOCK (HYMENOPTERA, 



FORMICIDAE) 



By J. J. McAreavey, S.J. 



Plate 1, Fig. 1. 

 (Received for publication May 27, 1947) 



Although this paper is concerned almost entirely with species 

 of Prolasius, it is not meant to be a revision of that genus. Species 

 described by Clark from the Otway Ranges (Mem. Nat. Mus. Vict. 

 8, pp. 66-70, 1934), and several species previously regarded as 

 belonging to other genera, have been included as well as a number 

 of new species. Since, however, only those new species of which 

 considerable numbers of specimens could be examined are 

 described in this paper, and since it is known that there are 

 undescribed species in various collections, a complete revision of 

 the genus Prolasius would contain more than twice the number 

 of ants here described. 



Wheeler included among Prolasius the species Notorious hick- 

 mani Clark and Notoncus rotundiceps Clark (Roy. Soc. Vict. 42, 

 pp. 126-127, 1929), though in his article (Psyche 42, March pp. 

 68-72, 1935) he does not give the reason for this change. This 

 does not appear to he correct, since apart from the difference in 

 the structure of the thorax, neither of these species has the 

 ocelli, which are always present in Prolasius. However, from the 

 descriptions and figures, neither of these species seem to belong 

 to Notoncus, for the pronotum and metanotum lack the character- 

 istics of that genus, and again ocelli should be present, as in other 

 species of Notoncus. Without an examination of the types, it is 

 difficult to determine to which genus these species should be 

 transferred — certainly they are not Prolasius. 



In the same article in Psyche, Wheeler agrees with Clark, who 

 places the genus MyrmecorJtynchus in the tribe Melophorini, 

 though previously both he and Emery (Genera Insect. Fasc. 183, 

 p. 36, 1925) had regarded it as representing a distinct tribe. 

 Melophorini now contain the following almost entirely Australian 

 genera — Mclophorus Lubbock, Prolasius Forel, Diodontolepis 

 Wheeler, Notoncus Emery, Pseudonotoncus Clark and Myrme- 

 corhynchus Andre, each of which needs complete revision. Based 

 on differences in external structure, Wheeler's division of 



