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PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. XIV, April I960 
key to THE Ponera leae superspecies 
In the key to the species of the tenuis group 
presented by Wilson (1957) all three of these 
species key out to caledonica ; they may be dif- 
ferentiated as follows: 
1. Slightly larger species, HW 0.42 mm. to 
0.44 mm. (Norfolk Island) norfolkensis 
Slightly smaller species, HW 0.38 mm. to 
0.40 mm 2 
2. Eye diameter 0.02 mm. to 0.03 mm.; colour 
medium reddish brown; lateral faces of 
propodeum feebly to strongly shining 
(New Caledonia) caledonica 
Eye diameter about 0.01 mm.; colour dark 
reddish brown; lateral faces of propodeum 
densely shagreened and subopaque (Tas- 
mania and New Zealand) leae 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
Insofar as P. leae and P. norfolkensis are very 
poorly represented in collections, a number of 
Australian entomologists have given assistance 
in attempting to locate specimens for the author. 
I wish to extend my thanks to them, particularly 
to Father J. J. McAreavey of Melbourne, Mr. 
N. M. Hudson of Hobart, and Dr. E. T. Giles, 
late of the Museum of South Australia, Adelaide. 
Special thanks are due to Dr. Ch. Ferriere of 
the Museum d’Histoire Naturelle, Geneva, for 
arranging the loan of the type of P. leae from 
the For el collection; and to Dr. E. O. Wilson of 
Harvard University, for his most generous direc- 
tion and for assistance in providing paratype 
specimens of P. caledonica , and notes on the 
type series of P. norfolkensis. I wish also to 
thank the Director and Dr. K. P. Lamb of the 
Plant Diseases Division, Auckland, for the loan 
of specimens of P. leae. 
REFERENCES 
Forel, A. 1913. Fourmis de Tasmanie et d’Aus- 
tralie recoltees par MM. Lea, Froggatt, etc. 
Bull. Soc. Vaud. Sci. Nat. 49: 173-196. 
Wheeler, W. M. 1927. The ants of Lord 
Howe Island and Norfolk Island. Proc. Amer. 
Acad. Arts Sci. 62: 121-153. 
1935. Checklist of the ants of Oceania. 
Occ. Pap. Bishop Mus. 11(11): 1-56. 
Wilson, E. O. 1957. The tenuis and sele- 
nophora groups of the ant genus Ponera 
(Hymenoptera-Formicidae). Bull. Mus. Comp. 
Zool. Harv. 116(6): 355-386. 
