23. Ponera diminuta ^HNS. B.M.

Worker. Length 3 lines.-Black: the mandibles and extreme base of the scape ferruginous, the flagellum fusco-ferruginous; the head elongate, narrowed behind; delicately striated, the striae curved transversely on the vertex. Thorax elongate, produced anteriorly into a neck, behind which it is swollen: in the middle it is compressed, and from thence widened to the apex; the apex obliquely truncate, the truncation with a few deep transverse striae; the thorax above has a number of short irregular striae or scratches; the legs rufo-piceous, the tarsi palest. Abdomen: the scale or node, viewed laterally, is quadrate; above, it is slightly widest behind and truncated in front and behind; the first segment rounded in front, its apical margin constricted, the second segment is also constricted at the base; the abdomen is smooth and shining, with the apical margins of the segments and the apex rufo-piceous.

Hab. Borneo (Sarawak).

This species, on a smaller scale, is almost an exact representative of the P. tarsata ^HNS.