In Britain we have only two representatives of the sub-family, viz. _Ponera contracta_, a small ant of dirty-yellow colour, found rarely in the Southern counties, living in moss or under stones. Its colonies consist of only a few individuals; Forel giving fifty as the highest number he has observed. The second species, _P. punctatissima_, presents the almost unique peculiarity of possessing two forms of the male sex, one of them resembling the worker in most of its peculiarities, and in being destitute of wings, while the other is winged, as is usual in male ants. In the island of St. Vincent another species of _Ponera_ has been discovered having an apterous and worker-like male, and was named by Forel _P. ergatandria_.[71] The discovery of this form has led him to express some doubt as to whether _Ponera punctatissima_ has two forms of males; but it seems probable that it really is so, the ergatoid males being produced under somewhat different circumstances from the normal males. We shall subsequently see that _Cardiocondyla_ and a few other Myrmicides exhibit an analogous peculiarity. The genus _Myrmecia_ is confined to the Australian continent and Tasmania, and includes a considerable number of species of large and moderate-sized ants, the classification of which has been a subject of difference of opinion. This has arisen from the fact that the nodes of the abdominal pedicel are more similar to those existing in the Myrmicides than to those of the typical Ponerides. There are, however, some American members of the latter sub-family (_Paraponera clavata_, _e.g._) that differ but little in this point from _Myrmecia_, and, moreover, the pupae of _Myrmecia_ are enclosed in a cocoon, while in the Myrmicides they are usually naked. On the other hand the nests are, it appears, very large and populous, more like what exists in the Myrmicides; there is no true stridulating organ on the first abdominal segment. The genus is therefore one of those interesting anomalies that form so large a proportion of the Australian {173}fauna, and will probably be ultimately treated as a distinct sub-family. There are about thirty species. The ants of this genus are well known to the residents in Australia, where they are called "bull-dog ants." They form large mounds of earth for their nests. The workers, and females (Fig. 76) are much alike except during the period when the latter are still carrying their wings. The males, however, differ considerably, being of more slender form, and possessing only insignificant mandibles, and straight antennae with a quite short basal joint. [Illustration: Fig. 76—_Myrmecia pyriformis._ Australia. Female after casting wings.]