THE yOUNG 



NATURALIST. 



22:3 



BRITISH ANTS— By G. C. BIQNELL. 



(Continual from page 207 J 

 ginals and one discoidal. 



Worker. — Without eyes, and same colour 

 as the female. Length, 3-4 mill. 



Habitat. — Rare. Brighton, Weybridge, 

 Exeter, Plymouth. I believe I am correct in 

 saying that only single specimens have been 

 taken at the two last-named places. 



2. Ponera punctatissima, Rog. 



Very like contracta, but darker ; the punc- 

 tuation of the head is much finer, so fine 

 indeed as to be hardly discernible, and the 

 pubescence of the abdomen adpressed, not 

 mixed with semi-prominent hairs, as in the 

 above-named species ; maxiUary palpi onc- 

 jointcd. Length, 3-4 mill. 



Habitat. — Occasionally in houses. This 

 species was recorded as new to the British 

 fauna in the Entomologist's Annual iov 1861, 

 it having been taken in a bakehouse near 

 Burton Crescent, London ; and also in 

 Robert Street, Hampstead Road. 



Family MYRMICID^. 



May be easily distinguished from the pre- 

 ceding by the petiole of the abdomen having 

 two nodes. 



Introductory diagram of Myrmica, plate 



7. fig- I 



I — Flagellum of antennae. 



2. — Scape of antennae, showing the acute 

 angular lobe of scabrinodis. 



3. — Mandibles. 



4. — Eyes. 



5. — Ocelli, three. (In the workers of the 

 fortnicida they are very small ; the workers 

 of the myrmicidcB have quite lost them.) 



6. — Prothorax \ 



7. — Mesothorax \ Thorax. 



8. — Metathorax with spines ) 



9. — Nodes of the petiole. 



10. — Abdomen. 



11. — Coxa. 



12. — Trochanter. 



13. — Femur. 



14. — Tibia. 



15. — Tarsus (consisting of five joints). 

 Genus MYRMICA, Lat. 



This genus consists of five species, which 

 very closely resemble each other. The 

 latest authorities, Messrs. Emery and Forel, 

 believe them to be races of one species. 

 The writer is of the same opinion ; he found 

 it a great difficulty at first to separate them. 



1. Myrmica ruginodis, Nyl. 



Male. — Dark brown, shining surface 

 with scattered, short, semi-erect hairs ; 

 mesothorax in front, metathorax and abdo- 

 men polished and shining ; wings dusky at 

 the base ; head, frontal area not sulcate, 

 vertex somewhat longitudinally rugose ; 

 antennae with the scape curved towards 

 the base, and thickened towards the apex, 

 as long as the first six joints of the flagellum ; 

 metathorax with two very blunt spines, (in 

 the males of all the species the spines are blunt) ; 

 both nodes of the petiole smooth and 

 shining ; abdomen about the same width as 

 he thorax ; legs with fine short semi-ad- 

 pressed hairs. Length, 6 mill. 



Female. — Testaceous, covered with long 

 pale hairs ; head and thorax deeply and 

 longitudinally rugose ; head wider than the 

 thorax, frontal area smooth and shining; 

 scape of the antennae slightly and regularly 

 curved at the base ; metathorax with two 

 strong, slightly curved spines, which are 

 longer than they are wide at the base, space 

 between them transversely rugose ; nodes 

 of the petiole rugose ; abdomen shortly oval, 

 with a darker cloud towards the base ; legs 

 covered with short, somewhat adpressed 

 hairs. Length, C-7 mill. 



Worker. — Differs from the female in the 

 shape of the thorax, which is w^ider in front 

 than behind, and constricted near the mid- 

 dle ; it is also generally much more rugose, 

 with the rugosities deep and longitudinal. 

 The metathorax is as high as the mesotho- 

 rax, and tke spines project above its level. 

 {To be continued on page 239.) 



