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PSYCHE

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W. M. Wheeler.
Chinese Ants collected by Prof. C. W. Howard.
Psyche 28(4):110-115, 1921.

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110 Psyche [June
CHINESE ANTS COLLECTED BY PROF. C. W. HOWARD.1 Since the publication of my paper on Chinese ants2 Professor C. W. Howard has sent me a small collection made in Canton and the immediate vicinity. The collection comprises two very inter- esting undescribed species and several others which have not been previously recorded from China.
1. Stictoponera menaden,sis Mayr subsp. bicolor Emery - Two specimens from Leng-oo, near Canton. 2.
Diacamma rugosum Quill. subsp. geometricurn Sm. var. anceps Emery. i? -Numerous specimens from Canton. 3. Odontoponera transversa Sm. $ -Several specimens from Canton and Honan Island, on which Canton College is situated. 4. Ectomomyrmex astutus Sm. S -A single specimen from Leng-00.
5. Leptogenys (Lobopelta) dimimita Sm. Q -Five specimens from Leng-00.
6.
Tetraponera allaborans Walk. $-A single dealated speci- men from Honan Island.
7. Monomorium pharaonis L. S $-Many specimens from Canton.
8. Monomorium carbonarium Sm. S -Eleven specimens from Canton.
9. Cardiocondyla nuda Mayr. Q -Three specimens from Canton.
10.
Crematogasfer rogen71oferi Mayr. Q ? -Several specimens from Canton.
11.
Crematogasfer biroi Mayr. S -Two specimens from Canton. 12. Pheidologeton diversus Jerd. 4 S -Many workers and a single soldier from Canton.
One lot of workers attending scale-
insects.
1 Contributions from the Entomological Laboratory of the Bussey Institu- . tion, Harvard University. No. 194.
2 Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. 64. 1921, up. 529-547.



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19211 Wheeler-Chinese Ants Collected by Prof. Howard - 111 DOLICHODERINB.
13. Dolichoderu-s (Hypoclinea) taprobance Sm. var. gracilipes Mayr. g $ 8 -Numerous specimens from Canton. 14. Dolichoderus (Hypoclinea) affinis Emery var. nigricans Emery. ? -Numerous specimens from Tei-loi and Loh-Kong, Canton.
15. Dolichoderus (Hypoclinea) sinensis sp. nov. (Fig. 1 ) . Fig.1 Dolichoderus (Uypoclin a) sinensis, ap. nov., worker. - Worker. Length 3.4 mm.
Closely related to the Palearctic D. qmdripunctatus L. but dif- fering in the following particulars : Joints 3-7 of funiculi shorter, not longer than broad; mesonotum slightly longer, more nearly parallel-sided; base of epinotum much more elevated and convex and broader in proportion to its length; its posterior corners de- pressed and developed as small, rather acute teeth, not as tubercles. Petiolar node distinctly lower and more evenly rounded above in profile, the cylindrical portion behind the node longer. Surface of head, thorax and petiole much more opaque; the foveolas on the head and thorax more regular and more distinct. Mandibles, clypeus and pleurae slightly shining, or lustrous, finely shagreened. Gaster very smooth and shining. Pilosity and pubescence quite as feebly developed as in quadri- punctatus.
Head, thorax, petiole and legs deep red, the tibiae slightly darker; tarsi, mandibles and antennae slightly paler, the tips of the scapes and funiculi infuscated. Gaster black; first and second segments as in quadripunctatus, each anteriorly with a pair of ivory yellow but somewhat larger spots.
Described from a single specimen from Canton. 16.
Technomyrrnex albipes Sm. $ -Numerous specimens from Canton ; attending mealy bugs.
; 17. Iridomyrmex anceps Roger $-Nine specimens from Canton.
18.
Tapinema indicum Fore1 ?2 -Six specimens from Leng-00. . I




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112 Psyc71 e [June
19. Plagiolepis longipes Jerd. ?$ -Several specimens from Canton.
20. Plaqiolepis rofhneyi Fore1 S -Numerous specimens from Canton.
21. Paratrec7~ina lonq-icornis Fabr. ?$ -Numerous specimens from Canton.
22. Paratrechina (Nylanderia) yerburyi Fore1 S -Numerous specimens from Canton.
23. Gesoinyr riicx 7~ozvardi sp. nov. (Fig. 2). Fig. 2.
Gesmoyrmex howardi sp. nov. a, worker major; b, head of same, c, head of worker minor.
Worker major. Length 3 mm.
Head, without the mandibles, a little longer than broad, broader behind than in front, with straight, anteriorly angular cheeks, convex and broadly rounded posterior border and corners, broadly and arcuately excised occipital border and rather flat dorsal and gula,r surfaces. Eyes very large, prominent, elliptical, fully 2y3 times as long as broad, situated at the middle of the sides of the head. Ocelli minute but distinct. Mandibles rather flat, their external borders straight at the base, convex towards the tips, their apical borders straight with acute, crowded teeth, alternately long and short. Clypeus broader than long, convex but not carinate in the middle, flattened and depressed anteriorly where it projects as a broad, arcuate lobe over the bases of the mandibles. Frontal



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19211 Wheeler~Chinese Ants Collected by Prof. Howard 113 carinae very short, twice as far apart as their distance from the lateral borders of the head, running back towards the anterior orbits. Frontal area and groove obsolete. Antennas short, %jointed, scapes somewhat thickened apically, not reaching to the posterior orbits; funiculi gradually thickened to their tips, all their joints longer than broad. Thorax long and slender; broadest through the pronotum, much narrowed at the mesonotum; pronotum seen from above elliptical, a little longer than broad, its dorsal outline evenly rounded, continued back into that of the sloping mesonotum to the constriction, which is sellate and bears on each side a swelling with one of the metanotal spiracles. Base of epinotum rising somewhat above the constriction, slightly but distinctly convex, longer than the feebly concave, sloping declivity. From above the epinotum is a little longer than broad and slightly narrower than the pronotum, the mesonotum less than half as broad as the latter. Petiolar node nearly as high as the epinotum, transverse, erect, as thick above as below, its anterior and dorsal surface roundeu. its posterior surface more flattened; seen from behind it is broader above than below, with broadly rounded superior corners. Gaster moderately large, elliptical, its first segment not7 longer than the second. Legs moderately long, femora all distinctly incrassated at the base, tibiae subcylindrical, their bases slightly constricted. Tar- sal claws slender and rather straight.
Shining ; finely but sharply shagreened ; thorax and petiole, ex- cept the pronotum, subopaque, finely and densely punctate. Man- dibles, clypeus and front of head with fine, dense, superficial, longi- tudinal striae.
Hairs and pubescence whitish; the former absent except on the clypeus, palpi and tip of the gaster ; the pubescence extremely short and dilute, distinct only on the antenna1 funculi. Dull honey yellow; legs scarcely paler; mandibles, clypeus and antennae more whitish ; eyes black ; mandibular teeth reddish brown. Worker minor. Length 2. 3mm.
Differing from the major in its smaller size, narrower head, proportionally larger, more prominent and slightly more reniform eyes, even more minute ocelli, shorter, less angular and anteriorly more convergent cheeks; longer and more anteriorly produced clypeus and more slender mandibles.




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114 Psyche [June
Described from two specimens from Canton, both from the aame vial in which they were mingled with several other ants. This is the fourth species of ftesomyrtnex to come to light. The genus was established by Map in 1868s for a species, hoemesi, from the Baltic Amber. Emery, in 1891, referred a peculiar form, codger, from the Sicilian Amber to the same genus,* but I have recently made it the type of a distinct though allied genus, Sieelo- myrmex.8 In the same paper I described a second species of G-esoqwmm, amec#en.s, from the Baltic Amber. In 1892 Ernest Andre6 described and figwed an extent speeiea, ca-pperi from the Kapouas Baain of Borneo. This insect has not been seen since. It is therefore of conaiderabte interest to find on the Asiatic conti- nent a second living G?somykx. It is evident that the Bornem and Chinese species are verv v&w and probably vanishing relicts of a group of Formicinse with huge eyes and 8-jointed antennse, which was represented by numerous species {luring the Oligocene and Miocene Tertiary. To this group we must also assign the allied genera Sicelomymea; and Diwimphomffrmex. The latter is known from two species from the Baltic Amber, ther-yi Emery and may-ri Wheeler, and three extant species, andrei Emery and janeti Ern. Andre from Borneo, and Zwonensis Wheeler from the Philippines. Judging from Andrk'a figures and description, Gesomyrmex howwdi differs from capperi in its smaller size, less reniform eyes, broader pronoturn, more cylindrical mesonoturn, more convex epi- noturn, thicker petiole and more uniform honey-yellow color. Andre's specimens measured 3.5 to 4 mm. and seem to have been minor workers. Since the major worker measures in all probability not far from 4.5 m. capperi must be considerably larger than the Chinese species. The amber specimens which I described as amectens may, perhaps, be major workers of hoemesi, but the measurements seem not to favor this supposikbn, since annectens varies from 4 to 6 mrn., hoemesi from 2.5 to G mm. The great similarity of all four described species of Oesovnyrmex leads me *Die Amelsen dea haltlachen Bemateins. Beltr. Naturk. Preuasena, Physlk. (ikon. Gea. KBnigsberg 1, 1868, pp. 1-102, h pla. Le Formlche dell'Ambra Sicillana nel Museo Mineralogica delt'univeraita dl Bologna.
Mem. R. Accad. Sc. 1st. Bologna (5) 1, 1891, pp. 141-166, 3 PI. a The Ants of the Baltic Amber.
Schrift. physlk. flkonom. Ges. Kanigsberg 65, 3914, pp. l-'MS, 66 flga.
6Voyage de M. Chaper a. Borneo.
Catalogue des Fourmia et Description
des Es&fices Nowelles, M&m. Soc. Zool. Trance 6. 1Μφ02 pD. 46-55, 6 figs.



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19211 Wheeler-Chinese Ants Collected 'by Prof. Howard 115 to suspect that the amber specimens, which I examined, may rep- resent more than two very closely related forms. The worker
major of G. howardi shows that the genera Gesomyrmex and Di- morphomyrmex are more closely related than was supposed. Nev- ertheless, the gizzard of D. andei figured by Emery7 is quite dif- ferent from the gizzard of G. capperi figured by Andre. In the former insect the organ is short and broad with short, terminally reflected calyx-lobes, in the latter long and slender and more as in Camponotus and Oecophylla.
The thickened bases of the femora of G. howardi indicate that this ant can jump like the large-eyed Gigandbps destructor Fabr. of the Neotropical Region and the rather feeble tarsal claws would seem to indicate that it is not arboreal but nests in the ground. 24.
Camponotus (Myrmoturba) nicobarensis Mayr S $ -Many specimens from Honan Island, Canton.
25.
Camponotus (Myrmoturba) mitis Sm. Q -Many specimens from Canton.
26.
Camponotus (Myrmoturba) barbatus Roger var albosparsus Fore1 g -Eight specimens from Canton.
27.
Camponotus (Myrmosericm) rufoglaucvs Jerd. subsp. park Emery tj -Numerous specimens from Tei-loi, Canton. 28. Polyrhachis (Myrma) mayri Roger !$ -Three specimens from Canton.
29.
Polyrhads (Myrmhopla) dives Sm. g 8 -Numerous spe- cimens from Canton.
30.
Polyrhachis (Cyrtomyrma) rastellata Sm. subsp. Zuevior Roger var. detilis Emery
-Three specimens from Canton.
Descriptions de deux fourmis nouvelles.
Ann. Soc. Ent. France 63, 1894,
pp. 72-74, 2 figs.




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