Ponera coarctata (Latreille, 1802)

Figs. 18,19.

Formica coarctata Latreille, 1802:65.

Worker. Light to dark brown with sparse pubescence but numerous body hairs especially on the gaster. Head more closely punctured than alitrunk; mandibles with four strong teeth towards apex and smaller indistinct denticulae posteriorly. Eyes are minute and often indistinct. Ocelli absent. Length: 3.0-3.5 mm.

Queen. Similar to worker but larger with easily visible eyes and ocelli. Length: 4.0-4.5 mm.

Male. Shining black, alate; pygidium terminating in a downcurved spine; scape shorter than second funiculus segment. Alitrunk high with arched scutellum and projecting post-scutellum. Length: 3.4-3.8 mm.

Distribution. Not recorded from Denmark or Fennoscandia. Present locally in South England and Wales and in the Channel Isles. - Range: throughout Central and South Europe from Portugal to the Caucasus and from North Africa to the Netherlands.

Biology. This is an inconspicuous species of slow movement, mainly carnivorous, living in small nests with two or three queens and 12 to 35 workers. Nests are found under stones or moss in broken stony ground, banks or crumbling cliffs and among flints in open woodland. Alates occur during August and September and have been caught by sweeping hedgerows in late summer.