W. M. Wheeler.
Myrmecological Notes.
Psyche 42(1):68-72, 1935.

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Psyche
[ March
MYRMECOLOGICAL NOTES
BY WILLIAM MORTON WHEELER
Biological Laboratories, Harvard University 1. NEW SUBGENERA OF DOLICHODERINE.
The genus Dolichoderus Lund (1831) now comprises more than 150 described species, subspecies and varieties. While revising these forms I have found it advisable to add to the number of subgenera recognized by Emery in his already somewhat antiquated fasciclce on the Dolichoderinee in the "Genera Insectorurn" (1912). He accepted only three gen- era, Dolichoderus sens. sir., Monacis Roger (1862) and Hy- poclinea Mayr (1855). The first and second restricted to tropical America, contain comparatively few species and are clearly defined. All the remainder were assigned to Hy- poclinea, which is very heterogeneous and much more widely distributed, since it is represented in all the great zoogeo- graphical regions, 'except Africa and Oceania. More recently (1926) Karawajew has established another subgenus, Dia- bolus, on what he erroneously supposed to be an undescribed species from Java. I adopt this subgenus, however, and propose three others for as many groups of East Indian, Papuan and Australian species formerly assigned to Hypo- clinea. These subgenera, which are hmere listed are charac- terized like Dolichoderus sens. str. and Monacis, by pecul- iarities of the thoracic armature :
Monoceratoclinea subgen. nov. Subgenotype : Dolichod- erus (Hypoclinea) monoceros Emery (1897). Other spe- cies : D. (H.) tricornis Emery.
Habitat : New Guinea.
Diabolus Karawajew (1925). Subgenotype : Polyrcha- chis cuspidatus I?. Smith (1857) (This subgenus was based on D. (Diabolus) bifurcatus Karawajew, which is synony- mous with D. (H.) cuspidatus surbecki Santschi (1925). Other species: furcifer Emery and conker Mayr. Habitat : Indonesia.
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19351 Myrmecological Notes 69
Diceratocl$nea subgen. nov. Subgenotype: Dolichoderus scabridus Roger (1826). Other species: beccarii Emery, angusticornis dark, indrapurensis Forel, gpsilon Forel. Habitat : Australia and Indonesia.
D. cornutus Mayr of the Baltic Amber also belongs to this subgenus.
Acanthoclinea, subgen. nov.
Subgenotype : Dolichoderus
dorise Emery (1887). Other species : edentata Forel, exten- skpinosa Fore1 and clarki nom. nov. for D. tristis dark (1930) nee. D. (Monacis) tristis Mann (1916). Habitat : Australia.
Unfortunately, these subgenera only slightly reduce the number of species in Hypoclinea. We may follow Emery in distinguishing four geographical groups in this subgenus, a holarctic (to which the name Hypoclinea properly belongs, since the Eurasian quadripunctatus L. is the subgenotype) a Neotropical, an Indomalayan and an Australian, but I have not been able to discover in the workers any charac- ters that would justify further subgeneric division. This may be possible when the sexual phases are better known. That the females may possess characters of taxonomic value is suggested by Acanthoclinea. Though colonies of this subgenus are not uncommon in Eastern Australia, no one has ever seen a winged female of any of the species. Very recently, however, Clark (Mem. Nat. Mus. Melbourne No. 8, 1934, p. 40, pi. 3, fig. 6) has described and figured a peculiar ergatoid female from a' colony of doria It is not improbable, therefore, that this is the typical and only form of female in the subgenus as it is in Leptomyrmex and sev-+ era1 other Australian ant-genera.
According to Emery, (Gener. Insect. 19271, this the most primitive tribe of Formicine ants comprises only two gen- era, Melophorus Lubbock and Notoncus Emery, but it needs revision both by subdivision of the old genus Melophorus and by addition of two other genera. One of these is Myrm- ecorhynchus for which I made a special tribe in 1917. In this I was followed by Emery, but I am now convinced that Mrymecorhynchus is a Melophorine. Clark has recently



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70 Psyche [ March
added another genus, Pseudonotoncus, which is related to Notoncus. I find that specimens of the type, Ps. hirsutus Clark, which long awaited description in my collection, have a typical Melophorine gizzard. Diodontolepis, a genus, which I based on Melophorus spinisquamis Ern. Andre in 1922, was again merged with Melophorous by Emery in 1927, but this was a blunder, as any myrmecologist who has seen specimens of the insect will admit. According to Clark, its habits too, differ from those of Melophorus. The old genus Melophorus was divided by Emery into three subgenera : Melophorus sens. str., Prolasius Fore1 and Lasiophanes Emery. In this he followed Forel (1911) who had declined to split the genus though he was impressed by the heterogeneity of the species, some of which he char- acterized as Cataglyphis-like, others as Pheidole-like and still others as Formica- and Lasius-like. I believe that Pro- lasius and Lasiophanes which have monomorphic lasiiform or formiciform workers should be regarded as distinct though very closely related genera of Antarctic origin. Up till 1934 only one species had been assigned to Prolasius, namely P. advena of New Zealand, but I found in 1931 that several of the Australian species placed by Fore1 and Emery in Melophorus clearly blelong to Prolasius, and Clark has very recently described several others. The true Melophori, thus restricted to species with polymorphic workers, may be divided into three subgenera mainly on thoracic struc- ture, namely Melophorus sens. str. comprising' the Catagly- phis-like forms, Erimelophorus subgen. nov. the Pheidole- like forms with huge-headed maxima workers, and Tricho- melophorus subgen. nov. for M. hirsutus Ford and its var- ieties. This subgenus is characterized also by peculiar sculpture and very long dense pilosity. The following there- fore represents my conception of the generic and subgen- eric composition of the tribe Melophorini : Genus Lasiophanes Emery (1895).
Genotype : Formica nigriventris Spinola (1851). Other species : bruchi Forel, bolivari Santschi, hoffmanni Forel, perplexus Santschi, picinus Roger, sauteri Forel, uxorius Emery, valdiviensis Forel, edwardsi Donisthorpe, negren- sis Donisthorpe, rufoniger Donisthorpe.




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19 3 5 1 Myrmecological Notes , 71
Habitat : Patagonia, Argentina, Chile.
Genus Prolasius Fore1 (18921).
Genotype: Formica advena F. Smith (1862) of New Zeal- and. Australian species: depressiceps Emery, formicoi- des Forel, mjohergiellzis Santschi, nitidissimus Ern. Andre, sdpio For'el, abruptus Clark, pallidus Clark, hemiftavus Clark, niger Clark, flavicornis Clark, hickmani Clark, ro- tun,diceps Clark.
Genus Melophorus Lubbock (1883).
Habitat : Australia.
Melophorus (subgen. emend.). Subgenotype : M. bagoti Lub- bock (1883). Other speciles: aeneovirens Lowne, curtus Forel, constans Santschi, iridescens Emery, insularis Wheeler.
Erimelophorus subgen. nov.
Subgenotype : M. wheel-
eri Fore1 (1910). Other species : biroi Ford, fieldi Forel, mark Forel, mjobergi Forel, omniparens Forel, pillipes Santschi, laticeps Wheeler, turneri For'el. Trichomelophorus subgen. nov. Subgenotype : M. hirsutus Fore1 (1902).
Genus Diodontolepis Wheeler (1922).
Genotype : Melophorus spinisquamis Ern. Andre (1896). Habitat : Eastern Australia.
Genus Pseudonotoncus Clark (1934).
Genotype : Ps. hirsute Clark (1934).
Habitat : Southeastern Australia.
Genus Notoncus Emery (1895).
Genotype: Notoncus ectatommoides Fore1 (1892). Other species : capitatus Forel, enormis Szab6, f ore1 i Ern. Andre, gUberti Forel, m jo bergi Forel, politus Viehmeyer. Habitat : Australia.
Genus Myrmecorhynchus Ern. Andre (1896). Genotype : M. emeryi Ern. Andre (1896). Other species : carteri Clark, musgravei Clark, nitidus Clark, rufithorax Clark.
Habitat : Eastern Australia.
In addition to Karawajew's and Clark's homonyms cited above, I would call attention to the following, which I have discovered in my own writings on other genera:-



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72 Psyche [March
Acropyga (Rhizomyrna) indosinenis nom. nov. for A. (R.) silvestri Whteeler (1927) nee. A. (Mcdacomyrma) silvestri Emery (1915) .
Nylanderia consuta nom. nov. for N. dicroa Wheeler (1934). nee. N. dichoa Karawajew (1933).
Camponotus (MyrmocZadoecus) sanctae-fid ei web eri nom. nov. for C. (M.) sanctae-fidei darlingtoni (Nov. 1934). nee. C. (Myrmophyma) darlingtoni Wheeler (Oct. 1934).
Ponera lese norfolkensis nom. nov. for P. leae oczdata Wheeler (1927) nee Ponera oculata F. Smith (1858).



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