1933 ] 
Mermis Parasitism in Ants 
27 
of the gaster spotted with brown; tips of mandibles, an- 
tennal funiculi, tarsi, knees and tips of tibiae, clypeus, gula, 
corners of the head, and a broad transverse band on each 
cheek yellowish or brownish red. 
Worker minima. Length 4-6 mm. 
Smaller than the minima of the typical clarifies, with dis- 
tinctly broader head and shorter and more convex thorax, 
the base of the epinotum more rounded and less distinctly 
marked off from the declivity. Ivory yellow, legs somewhat 
paler and more whitish; mandibles, funiculi, tarsi, knees 
and tips of tibiae reddish; posterior third or fourth of the 
head, dorsal border of petiole and two last segments of the 
gaster, dark brown; each of the gastric segments with a 
narrow posterior brown fascia, the remainder of its dorsal 
surface and that of the thorax spotted with brown. 
Female. Length 11-12 mm. 
Closely resembling the female clarifies in form, but the 
sculpture of the clypeus and cheeks as in the maxima. Head 
similarly colored, but the thorax dark brown, except the 
pronotum and mesosterna, which are dull ivory yellow, 
spotted with brown; gaster dark brown with only the an- 
terior and posterior borders of the segments and the an- 
terior surface of the first segment ivory yellow, the latter 
with brown spots. Wings long (12 mm.), distinctly in- 
fuscated, and as in the typical clarifies, with resin-brown 
veins and pterostigma. 
South Australia : Mt. Lofty, type locality (Wheeler) 
U % $ ; Adelaide (F. R. Zietz, A. M. Lea) U % 9 ; Belair 
(J. W. Haacke) $. 
Victoria: Sea Lake and Ultima (J. C. Goudie) U 
New South Wales : The Creel, Mt. Kosciusko, 3000 ft. 
(Wheeler) u £ $ ; Jenolan Caves (J. C. Wiburd) u $ ; 
Katoomba (Wheeler) u £ . 
Some of these series show departures in coloration, but 
they are not sufficiently constant to justify distinct varietal 
names. Thus the maximse from the two localities in Vic- 
toria have the gaster almost entirely dark brown, and those 
from Katoomba not only show considerable variation in the 
amount of dark brown in the gaster, but often have the en- 
