Myrmica adelaidae

Smith, F., 1858, Catalogue of the hymenopterous insects in the collection of the British Museum. Part VI. Formicidae., London: British Museum : 128

54. Myrmica adelaidae . B.M.

Worker. Length 2 1/2 lines.-Head, thorax, and nodes of the abdomen bright red; abdomen black, legs dark rufo-piceous. Head and thorax coarsely longitudinally striated, the striae strongly punctured; the teeth of the mandibles black, the club of the antennae 3-jointed, the flagellum 10-jointed. The femora incrassate in the middle, very slender at their base and apex, the articulations of the legs and the tarsi pale rufo-testaceous; the metathorax not spined. Abdomen ovate, covered with a very fine silky pile, and with a large ovate cream-coloured spot on each side at the base.

Hab. Adelaide.

Of this very conspicuous and beautiful species I have only seen the single specimen described: in the form of the thorax it differs from the majority of species, being somewhat flattened above, the margins raised and crenulated, the anterior margin rounded in the middle and curving on each side, forming a lateral, sharp, angular tooth; the division between the meso- and metathorax is very distinctly impressed.