187. Formica ferruginea ^HNS. B.M.

Formica ferruginea, Fabr. ^HNS Ent. Syst. Suppl. 279. 11; Syst. Piez. 399. 14.

Latr. Hist. Nat. Fourm. 94.

Hab, North America.

Extremely like the F. ligniperda ^HNS, and apparently synonymous with the P. castanea ^HNS of Latreille. A long series of the latter species exhibits a great variation in the colouring of different individuals: in some the first segment is red, in others it is merely red at the base; a few individuals have the head red; when this occurs, scarcely a trace of red is observable either on the metathorax or base of the abdomen. F. ligniperda ^HNS has a close representative in most, parts of the world: the F. consobrina ^HNS of Erichson scarcely differs from the European species, but is found in Tasmania.