126 



A Catalogue of the Species of Ants [No. 39, 



This Ant makes a small nest about J inch, or rather more, in dia- 

 meter, of some papyraceous material, which it fixes on a leaf. I 

 have opened two, each of which contained one female and 8 or 10 

 workers. It is very rare, and I have only seen it in Malabar. 

 46. Formica Syloicola, N. S. 



Worker, 3- 1 2th inch long ; head narrowed in front, and rounded 

 behind ; eyes posterior, salient ; antennae inserted in front of the 

 eyes, with a strong crest bordering their insertion internally ; jaws 

 short, with 5 teeth, the upper one much the longest and bent; 

 thorax, wide; with two spines on its anterior angles, and two 

 stronger ones posteriorly pointing backwards and upwards ; abdo- 

 minal pedicle large square ending behind in two large carved spines 

 pointing backwards and outwards, and two points or tubercles be- 

 hind and between them ; abdomen short, oval, colour dull black, 

 abdomen shining glaucous green. 



Female, 9-24th inch long, differs in the anterior thoracic spines 

 being apparently shorter, and in having 3 ocelli ; wingless. 



This Ant has the same habits as the last, but is not found except in 

 the jungles. It appears very closely allied to F. Nastata of Latreilli 

 from India, and to several other speciessaid tobefrom SouthernAsia ; 

 and as some of these may be found in India, I add here a brief des- 

 cription of them taken from St. Fargeau's work on Hymenoptera. 



" Formica Sexspinosa, Latr. Body black, covered with a fine 

 silky yellowish down, especially on the abdomen ; head oblong ; 

 narrowed posteriorly ; antennae long ; posterior angles of the 

 head salient; jaws large triangular, with 3 or 4 teeth, eyes small 

 globular, salient, thorax with two spines anteriorly on its lateral 

 angles, and two on the posterior extremity pointing backwards ; 

 abdominal pedicle thick, rounder in front, truncated posteriorly 

 with 2 spines almost as large* as those on the posterior extremity 

 of thorax length 7 2-3d lines (french) ; from Southern Asia. 



« Formica Nastata, Latr. Black, finely shagreened and slightly 

 hairy, head short; antennae long ; jaws short with small teeth, and 

 a larger curved one at the end ; space between the antennae ele- 

 vated with an arched crest on each side ; eyes small, round ; tho- 

 rax cubical, compressed, its surface flat and the ridge on each side 

 sharp, anteriorly wide and square with a spine on each side at the 



