Article beginning on page 423.
Psyche 8:423-427, 1897.
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PSYCHE.
THE SPECIES OF MYRMECOPHILA IN THE UNITED STATES- BY SAMUEL 11. SCUDDER, CAMBRIDGE, MASS.
The first species of Myn-necophila
from the United States, two of them,
were described b>- Bmner in 1884.
An eailier, but probably mi~taken refer- ence to them was do~~btf~illy made by
Harris in 1841 (Ins. inj. vex., I Z ~ ) , where he speaks of
ċ minute jumping insects, rather less thnu one tenth of an incli long, of a broad oval shape, and black color, without wing-covers or wings, but furnished with short thick hinder thighs. . . . It is possible they may come near to the genus Myrmecophila,
which was unknown to me at llie time [when Lhey were seen:; and since then these
minute insects havc escaped my obi.en%-
tion. "
They were distinguished from EIiil-
tica ; but as some cucumber vines were
much infested" by them, as the ~-ef-
erence to them. was expunged by
Harris from the second edition of his
treatise, and as no species of the genus has since been recog'tiizcd in New E11g- land, it is probable that these creatures had nothing to do with Myr~iiecophila.
Fitch (Rep, ins. N. Y., vi-ix, 186)
very reasonably thinks they may have
been a species of Podura, hiitif so, the i L thick Liuder thighs." were n mistake of observation.
Since I 884 Brunei- has recognized,
n:iinctl and distributed, but not de-
scribed, two other species of the genus, and previously Sanssure had described a
species from South America (Colom-
bia). I give here descriptions of all
these North American species, together
with a fifth new first recognized, and
add a table for their separation. In his first description of our Myrmecopliilae
Brunei- insists upon certain tliorocic
markings ns a distinctive feature of
114. jw1ċ´ga?idei These marking's
occur, however, in all the species,
although more noticeable in some
specimens lhan in others; I havc
accordingly not mentioned them iii my
descriptions.
The different species sire widely dis-
tributed over our country, but there are vast tracts where none arc yet known to
occur, althougli the conditions would
appear wholly fxvordde. Two species
;Ire found on the Pacific coast west of
the Sierras, one in the north, the other in the south; two others west of the
Mississippi and east of the Rocky Mts.,
one ut't11e11-1 having been found in Min- iiesota, Nebraska and northern New
Mexico, the other in eastern Nebraska
only ; while the fifth species is confined
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to the Atlantic coast from Maryland to
Georgia. The interior basin between
the great continental ranges, the Gnlf
States, and the region between the Ah-
ghanics and the Mississippi, as well as
the North Atlantic district arc,so far
as we yet know, uninhabited by Myr-
mecophila. Sanssure draws attention
to the fact that 'while the common
European species is found throughout
the south of Europe and also in Ger-
many, and especially in Saxony, it is
unknown in intervening districts, such
as Switzerland, where certainly the
examination of ants' nests has been car- ried 011 extensively.
It is not a little ci~rioiis that so little is known of the male of Myrmecopl~ila.
Altl~oz~gli two species of the genus are known in Europe and one of tlieui is
not uncommon, 13runner von War-
tenwyl says the male is unknown to
him, Sanssure has but once seen one,
and this was destroyed before he could
describe the genitalia, and Fischer of
Freiburg has seen the male of one
species only, and in his classical work
refers to it only by the words: "lam.
s~ipraanalis mihi lion rite visa." It is, however, -figured in Cuvier's Rkne
anini., Disc. ed.. pi. 82, fig. 2. Yet in the forty specinlens from the United
States I havc had before me nt this time for stiitly, sixteen of them are males,
and represent all but one of the five
species.
So far as I have been :ible to observe
- the stont hind femora generally
interfere with a lateral view- the
species do not differ greatly from e~ich other either in the male or the female
abdominal organs. The tips of the
ovipositor often appear very different in different individuals of the same species, hut this is due to desiccation. As to
the male organs, little can be seen
except a somewhat protuberant and
apically rounded liaustrate plate, as
deep or almost as deep as broad,
apically cleft - the subgenital plate ;
this partially or wholly conceals within its upper margins a pair of not very
slentler, blunt, cylindrical, incurved
cerci, which do not reach thc tip of the plate an<l are oversliadowed hy a ini-
mite triangular or rounded quadrate
snpnian;il plate.
I have given under each species all
that I can lenrn about the special asso- cixtion of these sn~allest of Orthoptera, and I am glad to acknowledge my
indebtedness to Messrs. Pergande and
Aslxnead through Dr. Howard for de-
termining sonic of the ants in whose
rests they were found. Mr. Perpucle's
further aid is clear from the text.
T?tb/e of the North American species of Mymiecophila. a\
I3oJy relatively lsir~e or of medium size, broad oval, depressed; hind femora pyrifonn, clistinc.lJy more arcziatc below than above. b I. Body nearly twice as long as broad ; front border of pronotnni narrowly margined with luteons . .
... . 'pergandei.
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b2. Body about half as long again as broad, front border of pronoturn of same color as disk. . . ~ O Y ~ ~ C ~ F - Z W Z . a '. Body relatively small or minute, less broad, convex ; hind femora ovate, as arcuate above as below.
i1. Of medium size, the female at least 3 mm. long, generally * very dark castaneous in color . . oregofteiisis.
b1. Of small or minute size, the female but little if at all exceeding 2 mm. in length, light testaceous in color.
cl. Larger, the female cxceecling 2 mm. in length, relatively broad, moderately toinentosc, the segments not margined posteriorly with darker color ; hind tibial spurs nearly half as long as tarsi. nebrascensis.
c2. Smaller, the female not exceeding 2 mm. in length, relatively slender, sparsely tomentose, the pronotum am1 succeeding larger scg- merits posteriorly margined rather broadly and feebly with fuscous ; hind tibial spurs much less than half as long as tarsi . nehawkae.
Myrmecophila pergandei.
A@/wzeco$hiZa $e~gandci Bi'iin. !
Can. ent., xvi, 42-43, fig. 4 ab (1884) ; Riley, Stand. nat. hist., ii, 181 (1884) ; Brim., Publ. Nebr. acad. sc., iii, 33
(1893) -
Of large size for this genus, broad oval, about twice as long as broad, depressed, especially behind the prothorax, very
sparsely lomentose, testaceo-castaneous, obscurely and son1cwh:tt broadly infuscaled on both front and hind margins of the
pronotum and on the hind margins of the
segments behind it, the extreme front margin of the pronoti~~n luteons, the head fusco- testaceous, the antennae as long as the body, luteo-tcst;iceou&, luteons basally, the legs testaceous, more or less faintly iiifuscated. Pronotum truncate in front and behind, the front margin ab'xit Lwo thirds as broad as the hind margin, the sides well rounded and
considerably deflexed; mesonotum and meta- notum equal, much longer than the first or second abdominal segments, which are equal between themselves. Hind femora pyrifbrm, their generally ovul shape being slightly produced apically, distinctly more arcliate below than above, less than twice as long as broad; outer hind tibial spurs more than half as long as Lhe tarsi. Cerci moderately slender, about as long as the hind femora; ovipositor slightly longer than tliiit.
Length of the body, 4.25 in1n.i breadth, 2.25 mm.
3 9.
Washington, D. C. with For-
mica rufa in rotten logs, Pergande
(Brunei') ; Same, with Camfonotzts
pc-ansylvaniczts (Bruner) ; Georgia,
Morrison. According to Brunei it is
also found in Maryland. It is also
given by liiin in his list of Nebraska
Orlhoptera hut probably by mistake.
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Wit11 regard to the reference here,
and below, to Formica r-a fa^ Mr. Per-
gmde informs me that this ant has
not yet been I'OIIIK~ in Nor111 Aii'ericsi. Prof. Bruner writes that Af. perg'andel
is " found most commonlj~ with a larg-e
yellowisli reel ant that lives in rotten logs," which Mr. Pergande tells me is
Ca7?2$0?20k VZ@~?CUS Say.
" 1 have
however found this Mynnecopl~ila,"
Mr. Pcrg'ande arks, quite frequently
in the nests of Ca'iaponohs pcfzmy/-
vaniczis DeG., Ccfuti>. mar~halus
Latr., for-a~icn- sitl'scric;ea S:iy, Porn Integra NyL, A$hacnuffaster tcnncf-
seeemis Mayr, cind Crem.cztoQ-aster l i ~ eolata Say."
The flatness of the body and its great
ċ´siz renders titis species readily distiii- guishable from all others except the
next species, from which if. is sepamble by its slenderer fon~ and Iiiteoiis edged pronot~~~m, as well as by its bcing more sparsely tomentose, by the "'enter
length of the thoracic as compared
with the abdominal segments, and by
its rather longer ccrci.
Myrmecophila formicarum sp. nov.
Of large or medium size. broad oval, about half as long again as broad: depressed,
especially behind the pronotnm, sparsely tomcntose, neu'ly ui-~iforiii testftceo-cxhtane- oils, the he:td and hinder part of abdomen a little inf~iscatccl, the anteniiae fnily as long as tlic body, luteo-testaceous, luteou? basally. Llie legs luteo-testuceous. Pronotnm bhrtpecl precisely :is in M. -pe.f-^\tiidei\ mcsoiiotu~ii and i~~et:inoli~ni equal, slif-Itily loiiyer than the first and second subeqiial iibdotnin~l seg- ments. IIii-iij femora subpyriform, distinctly more su-mate below than above, less than twice as long n.i~ !)roa<l; outer hind tibia! spurs full? half aa Ions ~ih tlie 11ind tarsi. Cerci moderately slender, slightly inflated beyond the base, distinctly bhorter than the hind fcmon; ovipositor coiii.idei-ii.bly longer than cerci.
T-ength of body, 8, 2.75 mm., 9, 3%'~
IIII~.; breadth, 8, 1.8 mm., 2, 2.75 m~n. 1 8, 3 9 . Sisson, Cnla., Sept. 3,
A. P. Uorse, with Cam'f>om~tus laevi-
ptus Sin., as dctf:r~ni~~ecl by Pei'pl<le ; El Dorado Co., Gila., Feb. (Bruner) ;
Placer Co., Cala., Sept. ('Bruner);
Coronado, Cala., Blnisdcll (Br~mer).
This species differs from its nearest
ally, X persfandei, hi its slouter form
and uniformly colored pronotiini ; from
the other species by its flatter body,
and from all of them hut ^1. orqomn-
sis in its considerably hge size ; from
M. orcgoncnsis it m:iy be cli~ti~ig~lislied by its greater stoutness, lighter color
iirul longer hind tibia1 spurs
Myrmecophila oregonensis
^lyrmcco'pJzila wcg-onensis Bmn.
Can. ent , xvi, 43 (1884) ; Fletch,
Rep. exp. farms Can., ISSS, 63 (18891
Tayl., Ott. nat., xii, 59 (1398).
Of medium or, in female, above the medium size, oval, convex, considc~~ibly lesh tlian :wice as lon<1- ;is broad, sparsely tomeiitose, densely and most niinntely punctatc, f~isco- astiineous, the head fusco~i~, the antennae iiboiit ;is long :is the "boclj~ lutcous or !tiLeo- tcstaceous, the legs stnd cei'ci the mmc, the bind l'einorii sometime? duskier. Pronolull1 with front ~i~id hind ni;irgiins Lrnncate, the sides well rounded, faintly tumid and
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strongly and roundly tleflesecl, narrowing anteriorly so us to be scai-cely two thirds as broad in front as behind; mesonotuin and nietanotum equal and distinctly broader than the subcqual first and second abdominal
segments. Hind femora ovate, similarly
arctiate above and below, about twice as long a broad; outer hind tibia1 spurs much less than half its long as the tarsi. Ceici moder- ately stout, hardly tapering' except in apical halt', distinctly shorter than the hind fen>ora; ovipositor considei-xblj longer than the cerci inid fully as long as the hind femora, luteous, Rpiffllly d;li'k CaStflrJCOiiS.
Length of body, 8, 3.25 rnm., 9, 3.65
mm.; breadth, 8, 1.8 mm., 9, 2 nnn.
9 8, 8 2 , besides ininiature spcci-
ine~~s.
British Columbia, G. W. Tay-
lor (Brunei") ; Divide (Cotfagc Grove)
Or.;Sept. 12, A. P. Morse ; Sisliiyou,,
Or., Scpt. 5, A. P. Morse, with -/'or-
mica neuċ´~wftbarbi Em., as dete~m~inud
by Pergmule; Portliind, Or., June 19
S. Hensl~aw, under a stone with ants
(Mils. Comp. Zool.) . It is reported
from Victoria. Vancouver's Island, by
Fletcher and Taylor. Dr. Fletcher
infonns me that it is " common in BI-it- is11 Colnmbia under almost every slab
of wood in some places, whether there
are ants there or not^."
r.
I his species is smaller than the two
preceding mid especially than &I. per-
gmzdei ; from both it fui'tlicr tlifters by -
its more convex body and from M. for-
micarum by its slcnderer form, d~irker
color (thovigl~ some specimens see'n arc quite as liglii, but probably from' inl- mersioii in alcohol) and shorter hipd
tibial spurs; from the next species it
differs in the points mentioned uncler
that species and froni flL neha-svkac
hv its much greater size.
Myrmecophila nebrascensis.
Myrmec(IpKila neirciscensis' Brm. !,
Pnbl. Nebr. acacl. sc., iii, 33 (1893)-
undescribed ; Luge, Orth. Minn., 260,
fig'. 169 (1898)- ~~idcscribed.
Of medium size, oval, convex, about half as long again as broad, moderately tomen- lose, tesfiiceous, sometimes feebly infuscated (in which case the disk of the pronotuni is clear), the- antenniic rather longer than the body, inif if or in testaceous, occsisionallyfeebly duskier, the cerci the bame, tlie legs pale testaceous. PronoLum with front and hind lnargins tnincate, niu-rowing so as to be nearly three fourths as broi-ul in front as Behind, the sides rounded but not fulh
strongly and roi~ndly deflexed; mewnotum and metanotuin equal and somewhat but not grciitly longer than the suheqiuil first and second abdotninal segments. Hind femora
ovate, similarly arcuixtc above and below, 1riiic11 less than twice as long- as broad; outer hind tibial bpurs nearly half as long as tarsi. Cerci rathcr 3innll, not very slender, taperingonly- in apical half, very much short- cr than the hind femora; ovipositor small, scarcely longer than cei ci.
Length ofhody, 8, 2.2jmm., ?,2.5 mm.;
bjeadlh, 3; 1.5 mtn., 9, 1.65 mm.
4 8, 7 2 . West Point, Nebs.,
May 6 in ants' nests - Formica 7-4
(Brunei") ; Santa F6, New Mcx., under
a stone, T. D. A. Cockerell, with Far-
mica exsectoides Forel, as determined
by Ashmead, Aug. Lugger figures it
from 'Minnesota.
As noted above, Mr. l'erpnde states
that Formica rafa is not known in
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