33 ?4- k . .' . ^ ; ' : " - v '
i/1
460 PROCEEDINGS OF THE INDIANA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
1/6 / 26
A LIST OF INDIANA ANTS.
WILLIAM MORTON WHEELER.
Many years ago Mr. W. S. Blatchley sent me for identification a number
of ants collected in various parts of the state of Indiana. Owing to lack
of funds, my report on these insects was never published. Although the
list of species is undoubtedly incomplete, it seems advisable to print it, with
such changes as the advances in. taxonomy have rendered necessary, because
it contains a number of locality records that may be useful in future studies
of the geographical distribution of our North American ants.
FAMILY FORMICIDJE
SUBFAMILY PONERINAE
Genus Stigmatomma Roger.
1. S. pallipes Haldeman. 8 Wyandotte.
A rather rare species which nests in small colonies in rich, damp woods,
under stones, leaf-mold, or more rarely under logs.
Genus Proceratium Roger.
2. P. silaceum Roger subsp. rugidosum Wheeler. 89
Rarer than the preceding; nesting in rotten logs.
Genus Ponera Latreille.
3. Ponera coarctala Latr. subsp. pennsylvanica Buchley 8 Grand Chain ;
Wyandotte.
Rather common ; nesting in the same situations as Stigmatomma pallipts.
SUBFAMILY MYRMICINAE
Genus Myrmicina Curtis.
4. M. graminicola Latr. subsp. americana Emery. 8 Wyandotte.
Rare; nesting in small colonies under stones and in rotten wood in shady
forests.
Genus Monomorium Mayr.
5. M. minimum Buckley 8 9 cf Shoals; Grand Chain.
This minute black ant inhabits small, clustered crater nests in rather dry,
sandy or gravelly soil. The workers forage in files, visiting plants in search
of the excreta of plant-lice, the secretions of extra-floral nectaries and dead
insects.
31
A LIST OF INDIANA ANTS. 461
Genus Solenopsis Westwood.
6. S. molesta Say S Wyandotte; Pine; Veedersburg.
A minute yellow species, with 2-jointed antennal clubs, common in open
grassy places where it lives in independent formicaries or more commonly
as a thief-ant in the walls separating the galleries in the nests of larger ants
belonging to the genera Formica, Lasius, Myrmica, Aphaenogaster, etc. It
is also known to occur in houses. The males and females are much larger
and of a darker color than the workers.
Genus Crematogaster Lund.
7. C. lineolata Say. g Pine; Mitchell; Grand Chain; Veedersburg; Tip-
pecanoe Lake; Culver; Wyandotte; Hammond; Arlington; Vincennes;
Shoals; DeLong; Mt. Vernon; Bass Lake; Kosciusko County; Craw-
ford County.
A very common and widely distributed species, nesting under stones in
open places, under stumps, boards, the bark of old logs, etc. The workers
have a disagreeable odor and move about in loose flies. They sometimes
carry the triangular gaster over the thorax with the tip directed forward.
Owing to this habit the species of Crematogaster have been called "acro-
bat" ants.
8. C. lineolata var. cerasi Fitch S 9 Knox County; Wyandotte; Veeders-
burg.
Merely a yellowish form of the preceding species.
Genus Aphaenogaster Mayr.
9. A. fulva Roger subsp. aguia Buckley. $ 9 <? Mt. Vernon; Vincennes;
Wyandotte; Knox County.
Common in shady woods, nesting under stones and logs.
10. A. lennesseensis Mayr g Wyandotte; Shoals; Vincennes.
Easily distinguished from the preceding by its deep red color, the long
epinotal spines in both workers and females and the small size and polished
surface of the latter. This species is a temporary social parasite on A. aquia.
Genus Myrmica Latreille.
11. M . scabrinodis Nylander var. sabuleti Meinert S Vawter Park.
A very common ant, nesting in dry, open fields and along roads.
Genus Leptothorax Mayr.
12. L. curvispinosus Mayr g Arlington; Tippecanoe Lake; Vawter Park;
Veedersburg.
This small yellow ant nests in small colonies in hollow twigs and old galls
in rather damp, shady woods.
13. L. fortinodis Mayr var. melanoticus Wheeler g Wyandotte; Marion
County.
Nesting in small colonies in the bark of trees.
462 PROCEEDINGS OP THE INDIANA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
Subgenus Dichothorax Emery.
14. L. (D.) pergandei Emery 8 Wyandotte.
A southern species, not before known to extend its range as far north as
Indiana. It nests in the ground, under stones or moss in rather dry, open
places.
SUBFAMILY DOLICHODEEINAE.
Genus Dolichoderus Lund.
Subgenus Hypodinea Mayr.
15. D. (H.) mariae Forel var. blatchleyiv&r. nov 8 Bass Lake; Hammond.
Eight workers from these localities differ from the typical mariae of the
Atlantic States in having the head and thorax of a deeper, more brownish
red color, the yellow gastric spots smaller, the tibiae and distal ends of the
femora black and the base of the epinotum somewhat less convex. This
form seems to represent a transition to D. plagiatus subsp. puslulatus Mayr
(possibly a hybrid!)
16. D. (H.) plagiatus Mayr subsp. pustulatus Mayr var. beutenmuelleri
Wheeler $ Hammond.
Like the preceding, this variety nests in the ground but forms much less
populous colonies.
Genus Tapinoma Forster.
17. T. sessile Say 8 DeLong; Bass Lake; Marion County.
A very common species, easily recognized by its strong odor like that of
rancid butter. It nests under stones, boards, etc. in dry, sunny places. The
larvsa and pupse are salmon-colored. The nests sometimes contain one or
more specimens of a beautiful myrmecophilous Staphylinid beetle, Noto-
taphra lauta Casey.
SUBFAMILY CAMPONOTINAE
Genus Brachymyrmex Mayr.
18. B. heeri Forel subsp. depilis Emery 8 Knox County.
The smallest of our ants. It nests under stones in shady woods and at-
tends root-coccids like the species of Acanthomyops. The pupse are enclosed
in cocoons.
Genus Prenolepis Mayr.
19. P. imparis Say.
Not recorded from Indiana but undoubtedly occurring in the state as it
is common in Illinois and the Atlantic States. It forms crater nests in oak
woods. The workers often distend the gaster with honey dew to such an
extent that they may be regarded as honey ants.
20. P. imparis var. minuta Emery S . Hammond; Wyandotte.
Merely a small variety of the preceding.
A LIST OF INDIANA ANTS. 463
Subgenus Nylanderia Emery
21. P. (N.) parvula Mayr g Hammond.
Nests under stones in small colonies in rather dry, sunny places. It is
easily distinguished from the preceding species by its smaller size and the
blunt hairs covering the body. The pupaa are naked.
Genus Lasius Fabricius.
22. L. niger L. var. neoniger Emery S Shoals; Arlington.
This form of the eircumpolar L. niger is properly subboreal, being most
abundant in British America and on mountains in the United States. The
females and workers are easily recognized by the suberect hairs on the
antennal scapes and tibise.
23. L. niger. L. susp. alienus Forster var. americanus Emery g 9 <?
Hammond; Vawter Park; Veedersburg; Knox County; Grand Chain.
This is the most abundant of all our ants, occurring over the whole of
North America except the artic and extreme southern and southwestern
portions. It is distinguished from the typical niger of Eurasia and the
preceding variety by the absence of suberect hairs on the tibise and antennal
scapes in the female and worker. Like all of our species and varieties of
Lasius, americanus is much given to cultivating root-coccids and root-aphids,
but, with the exception of neoniger, it is the only one of our forms that is
not exclusively subterranean in its habits. It may often be seen visiting the
foliage of trees and bushes in search of small insects. Prof. A. S. Forbes
and other have shown that it is of considerable economic importance on ac-
count of its injurious habit of cultivating the root-aphids of maize (Aphis
maidradicis).
Subgenus Formicina Shuckard.
24. L. (F.) flavus DeGeer subsp. nearcticus Wheeler.
Not recorded from Indiana but undoubtedly occurring in the state. It
nests under stones in shady woods.
25. L. (F.) brevicornis Emery.
Not recorded from Indiana but undoubtedly occurring in the state. It
nests under stones on dry open hill slopes.
26. L. (F.) umbratus Nylander subsp. mixtus Nylander var. aphidicola
Walsh.
Common in Illinois and the Eastern States and undoubtedly occurring in
Indiana. It nests under stones or in earthern mounds in rather damp sit-
uations.
Subgenus Acanthomyops Mayr.
27. L. (A.) claviger Roger S Stark County.
The yellow Lasii of this subgenus are all subterranean, or "hypogseic"
ants which attend aphids and coccids on the roots of plants and are easily
464 PROCEEDINGS OF THE INDIANA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
distinguished from the species of Lasius sensu stricto and Acanthomyops by
their peculiar and rather agreeable odor like that of oil of citronella or lemon
verbena. L. claviger nests under old logs or stones in open woods.
28. L. (A.) latipes Walsh a Belong.
This species has two kinds of females, one of which has the legs much
flattened and dilated and the hind tibiaa shorter than the fore tibiee, while
the other resembles the female of claviger.
Genus Formica L.
29. F. truncicola Nylander subsp. obscuriventris Mayr g Tippeoanoe
Lake.
This species forms populous colonies in woods under stones, which it
banks with vegetable detritus.
30. F. truncicola subsp. integra Nylander 8 Camelton; Wyandotte.
The largest and most conspicuous of our eastern forms of truncicola,
forming great colonies, often comprising several nests under piles of stones,
in old logs, etc. The ants stuff all the crannies of their abodes with bits of
dead leaves, grass, etc. Like most other species Formica Integra is much
given to attending aphids. It is most abundant in hilly regions, where it
prefers sunny glades or clearings in forests.
31. F. ulkei Emery 8 Tippecanoe Lake.
This species, originally described from South Dakota, belongs to the boreal
fauna. It is known also to occur in Illinois, Nova Scotia and New Bruns-
wick. It constructs rather flat mound nests smaller than those of the mound-
building ant of the Alleghanies (F. exsectoides Ford) which very probably
also occurs in Indiana.
32. F. ulkei var. hebescens Wheeler S Bass Lake ; Stark County.
This form was originally described from specimens sent me by Mr. Blatch-
ley from these localities.
33. F.fusca L. var. subsericea Say 8 Camelton; Hammond; Veedersburg;
Wyandotte; Vawter Park; Arlington; Pine; Culver; Tippecanoe
Lake; Shoals; Bass Lake.
With the exception of Lasius americanus, this is the most abundant of
our ants. It is easily recognized by its deep black color and silky pube-
scence. It prefers sunny, grassy places and either constructs flat, dome-
shaped mounds, which are largest and most definite in outline in the Middle
Western States, or excavates its galleries and chambers under stones, logs,
etc. It is a very cowardly insect, except when living in large colonies.
34. F. cinerea Mayr var. neocinerea Wheeler S Wilders.
Not hitherto known to occur east of northern Illinois where it is common
(Rockford, Chicago). It lives in open grassy places, often in boggy meadows,
usually in nests like those of F . subsericea.
A LIST OF INDIANA ANTS. 465
Subgenus Neoformica Wheeler.
35. F. (N.) pallide-fulva Latreille subsp. schaufussi Mayr g Pine; Shoals;
Hammond; Wyandotte; New Harmony.
One of our commonest ants; living in rather small colonies under stones
or in. obscure crater nests in sunny fields. It is timid and runs very rapidly.
Its food consists very largely of the excreta of plant lice and dead insects.
36. F. (N.) pattidefulva subsp. nitidiventris Emery S Hammond; Kos-
ciusko County; Marion County.
Common, with habits similar to those of schaufussi.
Subgenus Proformica Ruzsky. _
37. F. (P.) neogagates Emery g Tippecanoe Lake.
A highland or subboreal form, which nests under stones or in obscure
craters in rather small colonies.
Genus Polyergus Latreille
38. P. lucidus Mayr S Pine.
This rare and beautiful red ant, the "shining slave-maker" of MacCook,
or "shining amazon" as it may be called, uses the workers of Formica schau-
fussi as slaves, or auxiliaries. These are bred from pupae kidnapped from
their maternal nests by the war-like lucidus workers. The latter are quite
unable to feed themselves, excavate nests or care for their own brood, but
depend for these important services on the schaufussi workers. Hence the
shining amazons are unable to lead an independent life and may be regarded
as permanently parasitic on fragments of schaufussi colonies which they
bring together with great skill.
Genus Camponotus Mayr.
39. C. castaneus Latreille g 9 d* Camelton; Pine; Vincennes; New Har"
mony; Mt. Vernon; Grand Chain; Mitchell; Hammond; Wyan"
dotte.
This appears to be a common species in Indiana, although it is very rare
in the Eastern States north of New Jersey. It is easily distinguished from
our other Camponoti by the pure reddish yellow color of the worker and fe-
male forms and the pale males. It nests in the ground under stones.
40. C. castaneus subsp. amercanus Mayr. g cf Wyandotte; Mitchell;
Hammond; Camelton.
The soldiers and workers of this form, though variable in color always
have the head black. It nests under stones like the typical form of the
species.
41. C. herculeanus L. subsp. pennsylvanicus DeGeer g 9 c? Delong; Vin-
cennes; Knox; Mitchell; New Harmony; Culver; Tippecanoe Lake;
Grand Chain; Wyandotte; Arlington; Stark County.
466 PROCEEDINGS OF THE INDIANA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.
This is the common "carpenter ant," a large, entirely black species which
usually nests in old logs and stumps in shady woods. It may migrate into
old farm houses and surburban residences and become a pest by riddling
the wood-work with its inosculating galleries and by visiting pantries and
kitchens in search of sweets.
42. C. herculeanus subsp. pennsylvanicus var. ferrugineus Fabricius 3 .
New Harmony; Grand Chain; Vincennes; Mitchell; Wyandotte.
A beautiful color-variety of pennsylvanicus, with the legs, inferior and
posterior portions of the thorax, petiole and base of gaster rust red in the
worker and female. Its habits closely resemble those of the typical form,
but it seems to be less abundant and more local in its distribution.
43. C. herculeanus subsp. ligniperda Latreille var. nove boracensis Fitch
S 9 c? Pine; Tippecanoe Lake; Hammond.
Nesting in old stumps and logs like pennsylvanicus, but differing in the
smoother surface and entirely red thorax of the worker.
44. C. caryae Fitch S Wyandotte.
The types of this species, which I have recently found in the U. S. National
Museum prove to be identical with the form called by Emery C. emarginatus
Latr. var. nearcticus. Later it was shown by Emery that Nylander's name
fallax should replace emarginatus. Now the unfortunate substitution of
caryae as the name of the species is necessitated by the fact that Fitch de-
scribed his Formica caryae in 1854, whereas Nylander did not give the name
fallax to the common European form of the species till 1856. The latter
form therefore becomes C. caryae Fitch var. fallax Nylander.
C. caryae nests in dead branches. It is entirely black and much smaller
than C. pennsylvanicus, from which it may also be distinguished by the notch
in the anterior border of the clypeus of the worker and female.
45. C. caryae var. minutus Emery 8 Camelton; Grand Chain.
Smaller than the preceding, with more or less red on the thorax of the
worker.
46. C. caryae var. decipiens Emery.
Cited by Emery from Indiana. His specimens were received from Mr.
Theo. Pergande, portions of whose original series are now in the U. S. Na-
tional Museum.
