NOTES ON AUSTRALIAN ANTS. 
The colour varies considerably in the individuals of a single 
colony. Many specimens are entirely black, with the exception 
of mandibles, front of face, antennae and anterior legs. Others 
have thorax, petiole and anterior half of postpetiole entirely 
red or variously marked with red. The extent of yellow area 
on front of face also varies slightly. In some examples this 
does not pass anterior margin of eyes, whilst in others it extends 
well beyond posterior margin. Although the colour varies 
considerably, the sculpture, pilosity and pubescence are con- 
stant. The same colour varieties occur in all colonies obtained 
from each state. 
This species is one of the most confused in the genus. 
Judging from the works of other Myrmecologists it had not 
been seen since Lowne recorded it from Sydney. There is 
little doubt as to the form taken by Lowne, as he appears to 
have written his paper with the assistance of Smith. He 
records M. picta immediately preceding the description of 
M. urens, a species which has apparently been mistaken for 
M. picta by Mayr, Forel and Emery. In order to be certain of 
this, and of Smith’s other species of the genus, specimens were 
forwarded to my friend Mr. W. C. Crawley, who compared 
them with the types in the British Museum. In addition to 
sending notes, Mr. Crawley made drawings of the various types. 
A comparison with these shows clearly that the species regarded 
by both Mayr and Forel as M. picta is really that described by 
Lowne as M. urens. Forel records picta from Fremantle and 
added two varieties from that locality. The species found at 
Fremantle is not picta, and the two varieties described do not 
belong to this species. 
The confusion undoubtedly arises from Smith’s rather poor 
descriptions in 1858, but he certainly states clearly that the 
front of the face is yellow, none of the others has a yellow face. 
In 1865 Lowne recorded picta from Sydney and on the same 
page described urens which superficially resembles picta, but 
actually is not connected with it. In 1866 Mayr described 
pumilio from Queensland, and later (1876) lumped" all together 
as one variable species. From his remarks it is evident that he 
never saw picta and had confused urens with pumilio. Specimens 
of pumilio in the National Museum collections, received from 
the Godeffroy Museum in 1888, are the true pumilio, from 
Rockhampton, Queensland. The synonymy of this confused 
group is as follows : — 
Myrmecia (Promyrmecia) picta Smith : 
Myrmecia picta Smith, Cat. Hym. Brit. Mus. vi, p. 146, 1858, § ? ; 
Lowne, The Entomologist, Lond. ii, p. 336, 1865, § ; Mayr, Jour! 
Mus. Godeffroy, xii, p. 94, 1876, § ; Emery, Gen. Ins., Fasc. 118, 
p. 20, 1911, § S. 
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