waist segment not elongate, eyes normalKey to species
| A | Myrmica | |
| O | Scape of antenna near point of attachment to head bent gradually and smoothly without ridges; head relatively shiny, especially the frontal area (fig. 6c) | 1 |
| — | Scape bent sharply through a right angle, with or without ridges, head dull, matt (fig. 6d) | 2 |
| 1 | Epinotal spines long in relation to body size; either workers large, queens larger than workers, fewer than 10 in a colony (macrogyna) | |
| or | ||
| queens same size as workers, more than 10 in a colony (microgyna) | ruginodis | |
| — | Epinotal spines short in relation to body size; workers small, queens much larger, up to 100 in a colony | rubra |
| 2 | Antennal scape without ridge or teeth; frontal area with marked striations; a dark ant in moorland | sulcinodis |
| — | Antennal scape with ridges or teeth at the bend | 3 |
| 3 | Scape with very characteristic transverse ridge or plate at bend, almost tooth-like from some aspects; a small, dark species | lobicornis |
| — | Scape with lateral ridge at bend, reddish-brown | scabrinodis |
| (fig. 6d) and | sabuleti |
FIG. 6. Worker of Myrmica rubra: a. head, b. foreleg, c. scape of antenna, d. Myrmica scabrinodis: scape of antenna. c. and d. are viewed from behind. Hairs are abundant on the head which is strongly corrugated.
| scabrinodis is a smaller ant and has a less pronounced lateral ridge than sabuleti; it also has more queens in each colony | ||
| B | Leptothorax | |
| O | Antennae with 11 segments; a relatively large species | acervorum |
| — | Antennae with 12 segments; a relatively small species | 1 |
| I | Club of funiculus no darker than the rest of the antenna; a distinct dorsal groove or depression across the middle of the mesosoma; nests in tree stumps and wood | nylanderi |
| — | Club of funiculus darker than the rest of the antenna; no transverse groove on the mesosoma; rare species | tuberum |
| and | interruptus |
FIG. 7. Worker of Lasius niger: a. head; b. scale on petiole from behind; c. side view of tail segments to show ring of hairs around the circular orifice. The whole body is covered with a light pubescence and there are short, erect hairs on the scape of the antenna but none of these have been shown.
| C | Lasius | |
| O | Colour jet black, shiny, head heart-shaped | fuliginosus |
| — | Colour otherwise, head normal | 1 |
| 1 | Colour brown to dull black | 2 |
| — | Colour yellow | 4 |
| 2 | Scape of antenna and tibia of leg with short, upright hairs; body dark, almost black but hairy and matt | niger |
| — | No such hairs; body browner, less hairy | 3 |
| 3 | Frontal area indistinct; smaller, uniformly coloured, individuals living in open, sunny places | alienus |
| — | Frontal area distinct; larger individuals with gaster and head darker than the thorax; living in old trees | brunneus |
| 4 | Scape of antenna and tibia of leg with short, upright hairs | umbratus |
| and | rabaudi | |
| — | No such hairs | 5 |
| 5 | Hairs on top of gaster short, scale tapered above | mixtus |
| — | Hairs on top of gaster long, scale broad and low, not tapered above, no cheek hairs in front view; makes soil mounds in grassland | flavus |
| Three of the yellow species, umbratus, rabaudi and mixtus, are very variable and intergrade in the worker caste. | ||
| D | Formica | |
| O | Clypeus with central notch in lower margin; colour usually deep red | sanguinea |
| — | Clypeus without notch; colour reddish-brown to black | I |
| 1 | Back of head and top of scale notched | exsecta |
| — | Not so | 2 |
| 2 | Thorax reddish-brown, paler than head and gaster | 3 |
| — | Body black all over | 6 |
| 3 | Eyes with small hairs and back of head with prominent long hairs; wood ants making mound nests of vegetation near trees or in open moorland in northern Britain | 4 |
| — | Eyes and back of head bare | 5 |
| 4 | Thorax with many fine, long hairs | lugubris |
| — | Thorax with fewer, shorter hairs | aquilonia |
| 5 | Frontal area shiny, maxillary palp short and hairy; southern wood ants making large mound nests in open forest | rufa |
| — | Frontal area dull; individuals smaller, making very small mound nests or excavations in open, heathy places | cunicularia |
| 6 | Body shiny, black; building small vegetation mounds in wet heath and bog | transkaucasica |
| — | Body dull, black; excavating nests in drier places | lemani |
| and | fusca |
CHARACTERISTICS AND DISTRIBUTION
Only four of the nine or so sub-families of the family Formicidae are represented in this country. Two of these, Ponerinae and Dolichoderinae, have only one genus here. Of the other two the Myrmicinae have ten and the Formicinae two genera. The Ponerinae and Myrmicinae have certain similarities and are grouped together in a poneroid complex whereas the Dolichoderinae and Formicinae are included in a myrmecoid complex (named after the basic Australian sub-family Myrmeciinae).
The Ponerinae contain a mixture of very primitive and highly-evolved forms which are mainly tropical and Australian in distribution. In southern Europe there are at present some nine species but fossil evidence shows that there were once many more. Primitive features are the possession of a sting in the females (as in wasps) and the structural similarity between queens and workers; the latter lack only wings and ocelli. All ponerines have a constriction between the first and second segments of the gaster; here the integument forms, on the underside, an organ for stridulating. They feed largely on small animals and show foraging behaviour that ranges from the highly individual to the advanced legionary type. Larvae are able to eat prey directly and even to move about the nest slightly in the less advanced genera.
Ponera coarcta has a worldwide distribution but occurs in only 13 of the 152 vice-counties of the British Isles, all in southern England. Its colonies are small and inconspicuous and usually live in woodland amongst the stones and moss of the soil surface. There
