LIBRARY OP I J ENTOMOLOGY LIBRARY" CATALOGUE OF BRITISH FOSSORIAL HYMENOPTERA, FORMICIM, AND VESPEXffi, THE COLLECTION BRITISH MUSEUM, BY FREDERICK SMITH, V.P.E.S. LONDON: PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE TRUSTEES. 1858. ENTOHOLOGI PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET. AZ67 PREFACE. THIS Catalogue contains descriptions of all the known species of Eossorial Hymenoptera, Formicidse, and Ves- pidae, which have been discovered in Great Britain. The habits of the genera and the peculiar oeconomy of indi- vidual species are given, as far as the observations of several years have enabled the Author to record them. Great attention has been paid to the synonymy, in the hope of rendering it as perfect as possible ; and almost every species has been carefully compared with conti- nental specimens obtained from the best authorities. JOHN EDWABD GEAY. Dec. 15th, 1858. 366 CATALOGUE BRITISH ACULEATE HYMENOPTERA. Tribe I. HETEROGYNA, Latr. The economy of this tribe is greatly varied : some are excava- tors, which tunnel and burrow in the ground, while others do so in decaying trees or timber; a considerable number construct nests suspended in trees. All the societies consist of males, fe- males, and workers ; the latter are by some considered to be abortive females. The males are always winged, the females temporarily so. Amongst the solitary species, the females are apterous. Div. II. HYMENOPTERA ACULEATA, Latr. The species social or solitary ; the social communities con- sisting of males, females, and workers ; the latter individuals are )arren. Females : their antennae 12-jointed ; their abdomen consisting of six segments, and furnished with a sting. Males : their an- FORMICID^E. tennae 13-jointed ; their abdomen composed of seven segments, not furnished with a sting. Males, females and workers having four wings, which are always traversed by nervures, forming cells. Larva apodal ; fed by the workers in social species, and upon food stored up by the female in solitary ones. Some of the solitary species parasitic. Pam. 1. Pormicidse, Leach. (SOCIAL ANTS.) This family consists of the various species of Ants, with the number of which we are probably but slightly acquainted, although we have recorded 690 species. The metropolis of the group undoubtedly lies in the tropics ; and when we reflect upon the observation of Mr. Bates, who has collected for some years in Brazil — " I think," says that observant naturalist, " the num- ber in the valley of the Amazons alone cannot be less than 400 species " — if this prove to be the case, how limited must our present knowledge of the group be ! The imagination is unable even to guess at the probable amount of species, when we re- member that Mr. Bates is speaking of a single valley in Brazil ; and were the vast expanse of South America, North America, Africa, Australia and its adjacent islands, India, and the other parts of Asia, searched by diligent naturalists, there can be little doubt that the Formicida would equal in number, if not exceed, that of any other tribe of insects. The economy of the Ants, imperfectly as it is now recorded, has furnished some of the most interesting and wonderful histo- ries to be met with in the natural history of insects. The in- dustry of the ant is a household proverb : when their habita- tions are by any means injured or destroyed, no time is lost in useless despair — one spirit animates each individual — simulta- neously they set to work to repair their misfortune — unceasingly they labour — nothing damps their ardour or abates their in- dustry— until, as if by a magic hand, their habitation again rises to its former height and beauty, and all trace of ruin has disap- peared. It is not our province here to enter upon the wide field of economy as displayed in the exotic species of ants ; but it appears necessary to mention one or two particular accounts, in order to give some faint idea of the important part which these creatures perform in the great scheme of nature. We may mention the " Driver or Visiting Ants of Africa : " these ants march in vast FORMICA. 3 armies, and their approach is welcomed by the negroes, who quit their dwellings for a time, the ants entering and destroying every species of vermin with which they may be infested, thus rendering incalculable service to the inhabitants. The number of species at present discovered in this country is twenty-five, and as new ones are still being occasionally added, there is no doubt that the number will yet be consider- ably increased. With two exceptions, F. rufa and F. congerens, all the British species belong to the division of Mining Ants — one, F. fuliginosa, usually selecting decaying trunks of trees, posts, &c. : but this insect will in rare instances be found mining in banks or mud- walls ; such occurrences are, however, seldom ob- served. The F.flava appears to differ in one point of its eco- nomy from all our native species — the last brood of workers are carried down into the deepest recesses of their subterranean dwelling, and there pass the winter months in a state of tor- pidity. I have found numbers in this situation in the depth of winter ; and such larvae are much more pubescent than we find them during the summer months. We have frequently inspected the dwellings of other species, F. nigra, fusca, and cunicularia, in winter, but never found either eggs or larvae. The males and females of F. flava in a winged state are also found in the nest much later than any other species ; we have found males as late as the 5th of November. The Formicidce may be divided into two great sections — those possessing a single scale or node at the base of the abdomen, and those in which the petiole is divided into two nodes. Of the former group only a single species, Ponera contract^ is fur- nished with a sting ; whilst in the latter division the females and workers all possess that organ. This mode of subdivision, it must be remembered, is only applicable to the British species. As regards the species armed with stings, amongst the exotic group, several other genera having a single node in the petiole, are aculeate ; and amongst the division possessing two nodes, the exotic genera (Ecodoma, Cryptocerus, and some others, are stingless. Genus 1. FORMICA. Formica, pt., Linn. Faun. Suec. p. 426 (1761). Lasius, pt., Fabr. Syst. Piez. p. 415 (1804). The maxillary palpi 6-jointed ; the labial palpi 4-jointed. An- tennae geniculated, 12-jointed in the females and workers, 1 3- jointed in the males. Ocelli three, placed in a triangle on the vertex; the eyes lateral and ovate. The superior wings B 2 FORMICA RUFA. with one marginal, two subinarginal, and one discoidal cell. The scale of the petiole flattened, forming a semicircular plate, varying in form. The pupae enclosed in silken cocoons. SUBDIVISION 1. — Males only slightly smaller than the females. 1. Formica rufa. Fcemina. — Rufo-ferruginea ; fronte cum occipite, mesothorace supra, scutello, post-scutello, et abdomine supra fusco-nigris ; clypei medio, palpis, antennis, mesothorace, tibiis tarsisque fuscescentibus ; area frontali nitida ; squama lata, subtriangu- lariter fere rotundata, margine supero insequali; alis fusco- hyalinis, apicis subhyalinis. Operaria. — Testaceo- vel rufo-ferruginea, nuda, Isevissime cine- reo-micans ; fronte cum occipite et abdomine fusco-nigris ; tibiis tarsisque fuscescentibus ; squama, abdominis basi et ano rufo-maculatis. Mas. — Nigro-fuscus, opacus, sparse pubescens ; pedibus rufes- centibus ; area frontali nitida ; squama subquadrata, humili, crassa, supra vix vel parum concaviuscula ; valvula ventrali pilosula, saepe rufescente. Formica rufa, Linn. Faun. Suec. no. 1721 ; Syst. Nat. i. 962. 3. Fabr. Syst. Ent. 391. 4 ; Ent. Syst. ii. 351. 8 ; Syst. Piez. 398. 11. SchranJc, Ins. Austr. no. 834. Rossi, Faun. Etrusc. ii. 113. 836. Don. Brit. Ins. xiv. 76. pi. 496 ? . Olio. Enc. Me'th. vi. 493. 14. Latr. Hist. Nat. Fourm. p. 143, pi. 5. f. 28 Formica lugubris, Zett. Ins. Lapp. 449. 6 $ . Formica truncicola, Foerst. Hym. Stud. Form, 21. Formica polyctena, Foerst. Hym. Stud. Form. p. 15. 4. Scttenck, Beschr. Nass. Ameis. p. 28. Formica piniphila, Schenck, Beschr. Nass. Ameis. p. 28. Female. Length 4J-5 lines. — Head and thorax rufo-ferruginous ; the antennae, the head above their insertion, the middle of the clypeus, more or less, and the mesothorax, fuscous and sub- opake ; the scutellum and abdomen shining black ; the tibiae, tarsi, and tips of the femora rufo-fuscous ; the femora, scale of the petiole and base of the abdomen rufo-ferruginous; the wings white-hyaline, more or less tinted with brown towards their base. Worker major. Length 3| lines. — Rufo-ferruginous; the an- tennae, the head above their insertion, the pro- and mesothorax more or less above, the legs and abdomen, nigro-fuscous and subopake ; the frontal area shining ; the articulations of the legs usually ferruginous ; the scale of the petiole subrotundate, slightly notched above, or sometimes obtusely emarginate. Worker minor. Length 2-2| lines. — Frequently of a darker hue than the large worker, but sometimes of the same colour. Male. Length 4i lines. — Nigro-fuscous, with the legs rufous ; the base of the femora, the tibiae and tarsi more or less fuscous ; wings as in the female. This species, which is known popularly as the Wood-ant, the Horse-ant, and Hill-ant, is found in all parts of the country ; it sometimes avails itself of the hollow trunk of a tree, in which it constructs its heaped-up nest. In some colonies individuals are to be found with the head and thorax blood-red ; these are, no doubt, recently developed specimens, but they so closely resemble examples of F. sanguined, that, without careful examination, they might be mistaken for that species. The nests of F. rufa are resorted to by numerous species of Coleoptera, some of which, belonging to the Brachelytra, may be in some way conducive to the welfare of the communities — in all probability yielding secre- tions which serve as food to the young brood. I have not de- tected Aphides in the nests of this species, but the workers may be commonly observed in constant attendance upon them, on plants and shrubs in woods near to their habitations. Aphides are frequently met with in the nests of F. flava. In the nests of F. rufa may also occasionally be found communities of the allied genus Myrmica : M. nitidula has been taken on several occasions ; and I have met with M. Icevinodis living in perfect harmony with F. rufa in the heart of the nest. O FORMICA CONGERENS. 2, Formica congerens. F&mina. — Rufo-ferruginea, cinereo-micans ; capite supra, meso- thorace dorso et abdomine fuscescentibus ; antennis, tibiis tarsisque fusco-nigris ; area frontali nitida ; oculis parce pi- losulis. Mas. — Nigro-fuscus, parum cinereo-micans; capite thoraceque pubescentibus. Formica congerens, Nyl. Adno. Mon. Form. 906. 7 ; Addit. Alter. Mon. Form. p. 30 ; Form. Fr. et d'Alger. 61. 15. Foerst. Hym. Stud. Form. 17. 5. Schenck, Beschr. Nass. Ameis. p. 30. Mayr. Form. Austr. 60. 10 ; Ungar. Ameis. 10. 10. Smithy Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. n. s. iv. pt. 7. Female. Length 4^-5 lines. — Rufo-ferruginous, and with a fine thin shining cinereous pile ; the head above the antennae, the mesothorax, scutellum and post-scutellum dark fuscous, nearly black ; the abdomen dark mscous, with the base ferruginous ; the tibiae and tarsi dark rufo- fuscous ; the frontal area shining ; the eyes slightly pilose ; the scale of the petiole slightly emar- ginate above. Worker major and minor. — The same size and colour as F. rufa, but distinguished by the cinereous pilosity which covers the entire insect ; and the abdomen is not shining, as in F. rufa. Male. — The same size and colour as F. rufa, but readily distin- guished by its pilose head and thorax ; the eyes are also pu- bescent. This insect so closely resembles the Wood-ant, that it has no doubt been overlooked by entomologists as a distinct species ; it was taken at Loch Rannoch in Perthshire by a working col- lector. Dr. Nylander says it forms similar nests to F. rufa. It will probably prove to be a generally distributed species, if the attention of entomologists could be directed to the observation of these interesting insects. 3. Formica sanguinea. F&mina. — Rufo-ferruginea, Isevissime cinereo-micans; fronte cum vertice et abdomine nigro-fuscis ; squama subtriangulariter rotundata, margine supera rotundata vel leviter emarginata ; alis a basi ad medium pallide rufescentibus. Operaria. — Capite, thorace pedibusque sanguineis; clypei mar- FORMICA SANGUINEA. / gine leviter emarginata ; area frontal! opaca ; abdomine nigro-fusco. Mas. — Fusco-niger ; pedibus pallide rufescentibus ; clypeo obso- lete emarginato; squama supra crassa, transversim subrect- angulari, supra Integra vel late subemarginata ; area frontali opaca. Formica sanguinea, Latr. Hist. Nat. Fourm. p. 150. pi. 5. f. 29 5 . Jurine, Hym. p. 272. St. Farg. Hym. i. 203. 4