124 
William Morton Wheeler 
Lasius edentatus Mayr. 
Lasius edentatus Mayr, Beitr. Naturk. Preuss. I, 1868, p. 46 cf I Dalla Torre, 
Catalog. Hymen. VII, 1893, p. 183; Ern. Andre, Bull. Soc. Zool. 
France, XX, 1895, p. 82; Handlirsch, Foss. Insekt. 1908, p. 861. 
Mayr established this species on a single male specimen in the 
Menge Coli. It differs from the male of L. schiefferdeckeri in having 
the apical border of the mandibles edentate and not marked off by a 
distinct angle from the basal border. I have found no specimens 
agreeing with this description, either in the Geolog. Inst. Koenigsberg 
Colh or in the Klebs Coli. 
Genus Formica L. 
Formica flori Mayr. 
Formica Flori Mayr, Beitr. Naturk. Preuss. I, 1868, p. 48, Taf. II, Fig. 35 — 37, 
5 $ cf. 
F. flori Dalla Torre, Catalog. Hymen. VII, 1893, p. 196; Ern. Andre, Bull. Soc. 
Zool. France, XX, 1895, p. 82; Handlirsch, Foss. Insekt. 1908, p. 863. 
Mayr described all three phases of this ant, the worker and 
male from numerous inclusions, the female from a single poorly pre- 
served and deälated specimen (3737/85) in the Geolog. Inst. Koenigs- 
berg Coli. He noted the very close resemblance to the recent F. fusca 
h., with whieh he believed the amber form might, perhaps, prove 
to be identical. After the examination of a very long series of spe- 
cimens of F. flori , including two good females, I can only confirm 
Mayr’s statements. That it is the precursor or ancestor of F. fusca 
I believe admits of little doubt, but I am not willing to regard the 
two species as identical. The amber form varies much in size and 
to a considerable extent also in the shape of the thorax and petiole. 
Some specimens are much more slender than others. But all such 
variations may be found in a single colony of the existing fusca and 
cannot be used as a basis for the description of several species. One 
of the females, B 16592 in the Geolog. Inst. Koenigsberg Coli., is 
smaller than the gynetype, and both in this respect and in its pilosity 
and in having a more compressed petiolar node is much more like 
the female F. fusca. The wings are beautifully preserved and have a 
distinct brownish tint as in the existing var. subsericea Say of North 
America. The other specimen of this sex, which bears no number, 
is unfortunately not before me as I write, having been previously 
returned to Koenigsberg with many of the worker specimens. 
F. flori is one of the most abundant and conspicuous ants of 
the Baltic amber. Mayr saw 189 specimens, Ern. Andre 99. In 
