72 
Psyche 
[June 
3.3 mm. to 3.7 mm., while its length, excluding the mandi- 
bles, varies from 3.6 mm. to 4.0 mm. All possible inter- 
mediates connect the soldier with the smallest worker 
which measures 3 mm. (Smith), or 4 mm. among my ma- 
terial. 
Ph. fimbriata is furnished with tufts of short, dense, 
erect hairs on the under surfaces of the petiole and post- 
petiole, while these are absent on rhea (s. str.). The 
ants before me show a few, spaced hairs in those posi- 
tions. Also, some of the intermediate sizes possess a 
slender, acute, erect spine on the ventral aspect of the 
petiolar peduncle, and others show an aborted spine, 
while most have only a slight elevation. The eyes of the 
rhea soldier have 15 facets, according to Smith, but my 
examples show only 13 to 14 facets; fimbriata has 11 or 
12. The color of the largest soldiers and some of the 
intermediates is somewhat lighter than that indicated in 
the description, or of those received for study ; it is dis- 
tinctly red on the middle and posterior portions of the 
head, though the thorax and abdomen are brownish to 
black. 
The single specimen of wingless female in my posses- 
sion differs also from Wheeler’s description of the type, 
and is probably another indication of the considerable 
variation to which the species is subject. The head is 
distinctly broader than long (exclusive of the mandibles), 
and the posterior border of the orbit is precisely at the 
middle of the head, rather than in front of it. The cly- 
peus has an obvious median elevation or carina, and a 
broad, shallow emargination, opposite to the condition 
of these structures in Wheeler’s specimen. The thorax 
through the wing insertions is as broad or broader than 
the head through the posterior corners (narrower in 
rhea ), the petiole is subquadrate rather than suborbicu- 
lar, and the mesonotum is not shagreened, but very 
smooth and shining with a few striations near the mid- 
dle of the posterior border and on the sides of the an- 
terior border. The gaster is distinctly shagreened and 
feebly shining. In size, this ant is 14 mm., and therefore 
not quite as long as Wheeler’s specimen. 
