Ponera stigma var. attrita, Forel, A., 1893

Forel, A., 1893, Formicides de l'Antille St. Vincent. Récoltées par Mons. H. H. Smith., Transactions of the Entomological Society of London 1893, pp. 333-418 : 362-363

Var. attrita , n. v.

[[ worker ]]. (No. 46 b).

Differe de la forme typique par sa taille plus robuste et plus grande (6 a 6, 2 mill, au lieu de 5), par son thorax presque entiere- ment brun fonce, sa sculpture plus dense qui le rend plus mat, et surtout par ses mandibules plus longues, plus etroites, avec les six dents plus ou moins usees, avec le milieu du bord externe legere- ment concave et le bord terminal peu distinct du bord interne.. Cependant ces caracteres ne sont pas constants; on trouve des formes transitoires parmi les exemplaires recoltes par M. H. H. Smith. Ainsi les Nos. 46 a et 46 g font passage a la P. stigma typique, tandis que 46 6 correspond a la var. attrita .

Le [[ male ]] est long de 5 mill.; il a les ailes enfumees de brun et les valvules genitales longues et etroites.

The species are common in small communities (three or four to twenty-five); under bark of rotten logs, under stones, turf, & c.; generally with a single small chamber and entrance passage. These ants are sluggish, and not at all pugnacious. I have not found the male.

(16). Pretty common. Communities of from five to thirty or forty are met with. The formicarium is made in rather dry and hard rotten wood; it consista of a single chamber, or of several in a row, with short communicating passages; the chambers about 1 in. long in the direction of the wood-fibre, 1 / 3 in. wide, and 1 / 4 in. high. These chambers may he under the bark, but are generally pretty deep in the log or stump. The ants are moderately active. When the nest is disturbed they are not at all pugnacious, but try to conceal themselves and their pupae in crevices. The males, generally found in outer chambers, take flight when the neat is opened. Formicarium sometimes under sod.

(46 a). Near Palmyra Estate (leeward), 1000 ft. Nov. 3 rd. Shady place, in rotten wood.

(46 b). Bowwood Valley, near Kingstown, Oct. 15 th, 800 ft.; shady place, in rotten wood.

(46 c). Richmond Estate (leeward); open valley near sea-level. Oct. 31 st. In decaying wood.

(46 d). Old Botanical Garden, Kingstown, 500 ft. Oct. 22 nd. Shady place, in rotten wood.

(46 e). Fitz-Hugh Valley (leeward), 500 ft.; shady place, in rotten wood. Nov. 4 th.

(46 f). Various situations, in rotten wood.

(46 (y). Damp forest near stream above Chateaubelais (leeward), 250 ft. Jan. 26 th. Scattered, under sod on a rock. The formicarium was destroyed in pulling up the sod.