62 
Psyche 
[March 
contributions. The first of these, a queen of Monomorium mini - 
mum Em. which lacks the left eye, was taken at Urbana, 111. 
by Mr. M. R. Smith. Plate. 1, Fig. 4 shows the head of the 
insect. The asymetry caused by the absence of the left eye is 
further increased by a narrowing of the same side of the head. 
The left half is very little more than half the width of the right 
except just behind the mandible where it suddenly flares out to 
full width. The left ocellus is misshappen and displaced. Dr. 
P. W. Whiting informs me that similarly deficient individuals 
occasionally arise in his Habrobracon stocks, and when, as more 
rarely happens, both eyes are absent, extreme microcephaly 
results. No dissection was made of the insect here described but 
it seems likely that the greater portion of the left optic tract is 
absent. The cross sectional area of the mandibular muscles must 
also be greatly reduced. In all other regards the specimen ap- 
pears to be perfectly normal. 
The second abnormality is a dealated queen of Myrmica 
scabrinodis var. (probably sabuleti Mein.) which lacks both 
petiole and post petiole. This astonishing insect was found by 
Miss H. Andrews at Boulder, Colo, in 1916. Figs. 5 and 6 show 
the thorax and abdomen in profile and from above. The thorax 
is joined directly to the gaster, the two petiolar joints having 
fused with the anterior face of the first gastric segment. The 
joints are broadened and flattened past recognition, forming 
a fan-shaped area on the gaster. Nevertheless their nature is 
strikingly apparent because of their characteristic rugose sculp- 
ture and lighter color. On the right side of the gaster close to 
the fused nodes is a small tubercle. It has no apparent connec- 
tion with them nor any obvious significance. At least two 
similar abnormalities have been previously described. Donis- 
thorpe, in 1922, published a short paper containing an account of 
a dealated queen of Leptoihorax acervorum F. which lacks the 
petiolar joints. The altered condition of this insect he considers 
an atavism. In 1927 Karajew described an aberrant worker of 
Megaponera fcetens F. in which the petiole is absent. Unfor- 
tunately the insect was not figured but the author notes that in 
other respects it was normal. 
The last specimen to be dealt with in this paper is an ergat- 
