(hiif/c—Subspecies of Poyono'inynuex occidenUdis eressoii. 
05 
tinely but distinctly lV)ve()latc-i)unct:ite. Mcsonotuni still uu^rc tin(;ly 
rugose longitudinally, faintly shining; inetanotinn with even finer and 
more irregular transverse rugae. Petiole, post-petiole and gaster shining, 
the latter the most so. 
Pilosity much liner than in the two i^receding forms, longer and more 
abundant, i)articnlarly on the head, thorax and petiole. .Antennal hairs 
erect. All hairs without bristly character. 
Head and thorax piceons, appendages lighter, pedicel and gaster light 
yellowish red, the former the darker. Eyes dull purple. W'ings as in 
female, hut generally lighter. 
Habitat. —Typical grass and sage-hrnsh lauds in Maggie Basin and the 
surrounding mountains in Eureka and Elko Counties, Nevada. 
I'ype specimens. —Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, Cat. 
No. •22S:>; James Canyon, Elko County, Nevada; August 3, 1912; Fred¬ 
erick M. Gaige, collector. The specimens consist of 31 cotype workers, a 
single aleate male and a single aleate female, all from the same colony. 
There are also 10 immature workers, with numerous larvae and pupae 
from the same nest. 
Xotes on paralypes. —The variations in the series examined are not 
great, and pertain mostly to the posterior margin of the clypeus, which 
is occasionally as in typical P. occidentalis. The ventral spine of the 
petiole is constantly suppressed, but in two cases approaches the develoj)- 
ment attained in the typical form. The sculpture of the head and thorax 
is very constant. 
Remarks.—The suhsi)ecies is well defined, and as stated above is very 
constant throughout a considerable series. It is intermediate between the 
long established, widely distributed P. occidentalis Cressou, a very stable 
form described from Colorado in 1865, and P. comanche Wheeler first 
described from Texas in 1902 as a subspecies of P. occidentalis. The 
workers may readily be distinguished from those of the typical form by 
the absence or great reduction of the ventral tooth of the petiole, the dis¬ 
tinctly slighter divergence posteriorly of the dorsal cephalic rugae, and 
the shorter longitudinal rugae of the mesonotum, and from the workers 
of P. comanche by the generally coarser sculpture, the strong carinula of 
the frontal area, and the longitudinal rugae of the mesonotum. In most 
specimens tlie clypeus is most like that of P. comanche, but it is subject 
to some variation as noted above. 
Habits.—The habits of this subspecies are very similar to those of P. 
occidentalis. It lives in very large colonies and constructs conical mounds 
as high as 24 inches and sometimes Ki feet in circumference. The mounds 
are ordinarily covered with gravel, but an abundance of spermophile 
pellets is frequently found in them, although rarely to the exclusion of other 
materials, and along railroad tracks the black cinders are much used. 
The space about the nest is kejit clear, often fora radius of live or six feet. 
The mound is usually iu the ceutn^ of tlu^ clearing, and tlu^ j)criphery is 
often covered with chalk and such vegetable detritus as has been discarded 
by the ants. The nests have few openings, the maximum noted being 
six, with between two and three as an average, and they are closed with 
