1954 i 
Gregg — Distribution of Myrmoteras 
29 
Myrmoteras ivilliamsi Wheeler. Los Banos, Philippine 
Islands — Type locality; Dumaguete, Philippine Islands 
Dr. Brown informs me {in litt.) of an additional record 
of Myrmoteras taken from the island of Hainan (Ta Han, 
and collected by J. L. Gressitt), which thus considerably 
extends the known range of the genus. The specimen is a 
male, and has not been identified definitely with any of the 
known species. It may belong to donisthorpei, but until it 
can be associated with other castes, its determination is 
uncertain. 
The scarcity of these ants is readily apparent from the 
above list in that all but one are known only from the type 
localities, and very little material beyond the type speci- 
mens seems to be known. M. bakeri is represented by the 
female and male, donisthorpei by the female caste, bing- 
hami, barbouri, mjoebergi, kemneri, and karnyi by the 
worker caste, and ivilliamsi by worker, female, and male 
castes. 
Some of the differences among these species may seem 
rather slight, and might be interpreted as indicating sub- 
specific status. Wheeler thought 'this might be the case 
between barbouri and his new form kemneri, but in an 
ancient stock it appears more likely that the surviving 
species are relicts of a formerly broadly dispersed fauna, 
and a group in which the process of speciation had com- 
pletely sorted out and separated an array of forms rather 
than one which presented the early (subspecific) stages of 
differentiation. For this reason, the writer is inclined to 
the belief that the eight species or forms so far discovered 
will be confirmed as specifically distinct when more ex- 
tensive information is available. 
It will be noticed that the distribution map implies com- 
plete occupancy by Myrmoteras of Borneo, Java, the Philip- 
pines and the Malay Peninsula. This was done despite our 
fragmentary knowledge and the very limited actual locali- 
ties where the ants have been taken, because the genus if 
present on an island at all, probably exists at numerous 
stations. In addition, such relatively primitive ants may 
be holding on in the face of a more advanced fauna of 
higher formicines, in which case they would be expected to 
occur in the undisturbed forest areas rather than locations 
