154 



WILLIAM MORTON WHEELER. 



For many years Sericomyrmex has been the one genus of Attine 

 ants which I have not had an adequate opportunity to study. 

 These insects are local or sporadic in their occurrence and very 

 unobtrusive and timid in their behavior. Even on the few 

 occasions when I have encountered them I could make but a 

 superficial examination of their nests. My note-books contain 

 only the following jottings: 



FIG. i. Laboratory of the Institute for Tropical Research on Barro Colorado 

 Island, in Gatun Lake, Panama Canal Zone. Photograph by Mr. James Zetek. 



Dec. 15, 1911, I happened on a number of nests of a small 

 Sericomyrmex, which I have since described as 5. zacapanus (1924) 

 on the clay banks of a small irrigating ditch in an orchard at 

 Zacapa, a very arid locality in Guatemala. The nests had small 

 craters 2-3 inches in diameter, which were either single or in 

 rows, like those of Solenopsis geminata nests, and were covered 

 with the ejected fragments of exhausted fungus substratum. The 

 soil was so hard that I could not reach the chambers and gardens 

 which must have been some distance beneath the surface. The 

 few workers that were abroad were bringing in small vegetable 



