Bothroponera denticulata Kirby

Clark, J., 1930, New Formicidae, with notes on some little-known species., Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 43, pp. 2-25 : 21-22

10. Bothroponera denticulata Kirby . Blood Creek; several specimens.

This distinct species is near B. regularis Forel , subsequently described from Western Australia. It is widely distributed throughout the interior. The worker is here re-described:-

Worker.-Length, 12 mm.

Black, or blackish brown. Inner half of the mandibles, antennae and legs ferrugineous.

Opaque. Head coarsely reticulate. Thorax more coarsely and iirregularly reticulate, with a more or less longitudinal direction. Node, first and second segment of the gaster longitudinally striate. Posterior face of the node smooth and shining.

Hair brown, suberect, long and abundant throughout, but longer and more numerous on the apical segments of the gaster. Pubescence very fine and adpressed.

Head as long as broad, as broad in front as behind, the occipital border straight, the sides feebly convex. Frontal carinae raised and lobe-like, as broad in front as long; between them is a long double carina with a median longitudinal groove. Clypeus short, convex, the anterior border bluntly produced in the middle in front. Eyes large, placed fully their diameter from the anterior border. Scapes passing the occipital border by fully their thickness; second segment of the funiculus slightly longer than the first, the apical as long as the two preceding together. Mandibles broad, armed with eight to ten irregular teeth, the apical five long and sharp, the others decreasing in size to the base. Thorax barely twice as long as broad. Pronotum almost twice as broad as long, strongly convex in front and on the sides. Pro-mesonotal suture sharply defined. In profile the thorax is evenly convex longitudinally, the declivity at an obtuse angle, rather fiat, the boundary between the two faces feebly defined. Node almost twice as broad as long, the anterior face and sides strongly convex. posterior face straight, furnished with numerous long sharp teeth; these are a continuation of the dorsal Striae; in profile fully twice as high as long, subparallel, the anterior face and dorsum united in a convexity, posterior face straight to near the top, then abruptly curved backward; there is a long, broad concave projection on the ventral surface. Postpetiole one third broader than long, strongly convex in front and on the sides, slightly narrower than the following segment, which is broader than long. Legs robust.

Habitat.-Blood Creek.

11. Myrmecia nigriceps Mayr . Reedy Hole; Bagot Creek and Alice Springs, one specimen from each; Avers Rock and Illamurta, several specimens from each. This has been so determined by various entomologists until it was recognised by Wheeler, who described the worker as Myrmecia vindex Smith var. desertorum {Trans. Roy. Soc. S. Ausi., xxxix, p. 805, 1915). On examining large series, including the sexes, from various parts of Central and Western Australia, I raised it to the rank of species, Myrmecia desertorum Wheeler (Clark, Vie. Naturalist, xlii, p. 143, 1925, [worker, queen, male]).

12. Pheidole longiceps, Mayr . Paisley Bluff, in burrow nest under stone. Wrongly identified by Kirby and subsequently described by Forel as Pheidole deserticola (Rev. Suisse Zool., xviii, p. 34, 1910)

The following species were described by Froggatt, Horn Exped. Zool., Part 2, 1896. As there are some doubts concerning the two species, I append a few notes, having examined the types in the National Museum.

(1) Camponotus cozvlei Frogg ., l.c.., p. 387, pl. xxvii, figs. 1-5. Examples compared with Lubbock's type of Melophorus bagoti ,

by my friend, Mr. W. C. Crawley, are identical with the types in the National Museum. This species is widely distributed throughout Central and Western Australia, and is known as the yellow honey-ant. The synonymy of this species is as follows:-

Melophorus bagoti Lubbock . Journ. Linn. Soc. Lond. Zool., xvii, p. 51, 1883. Camponotus cowlei Frogg . Melophorus cowlei Wheeler , Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist,

xxiv, p. 388, 1908. Camponotus (Myrmophyma) cozvlei Emery , Gen. Insect., Fasc. 183, p. 110, 1925.

(2) Camponotus midas Froggatt , l.c., p. 390, pl. xxvii, figs. 6-9. This species was wrongly placed in the subgenus Myrmophyma

by Emery (Gen. Insect., Fasc. 183, p. 111, 1925). It is placed in the sub-genus Myrmosaulus , near C.(M.) aurocincta Smith . The workers and female are redescribed below.