22 WHEELER. [VOL. II. 



lines of development terminating in organs of different struc- 

 ture but identical function. 



The pupae of Odontomachus, Leptogenys, and Pachycon- 

 dyla are enclosed in elliptical brown cocoons, like the pupae 

 of many species of Formica and Camponotus. The pupa of 

 L. clongata is remarkable on account of its very slender shape, 

 a peculiarity not confined to the pupa, but, as we have seen, 

 extending also to the egg, larva, and imago. 



We come now to a consideration of the breeding habits of 

 the Ponerinae. The little that has been made known concern- 

 ing their habits has led European myrmecologists to believe 

 that the philoprogenitive instincts of these ants must be less 

 highly developed than those of the Myrmicinae and Formi- 

 cinae. Thus, according to the above-quoted note of Professor 

 Biro, when the nest of Ponera stigma is disturbed the ants flee 

 and the larvae are "abbandonate dai loro vigliacchi custodi." 

 And Professor Forel has made what appears to be a somewhat 

 similar observation on our American Ponera coarctata Fabr. in 

 North Carolina : : "La Ponera coarctata americaine est tres com- 

 mune dans les troncs pourris et sous les pierres. J'ai fait chez 

 elle une observation qu'il est bien difficile de faire en Europe ; 

 mais ici elle est tout a fait constante. Lorsqu'on decouvre 

 un nid de Ponera dans un tronc pourri, on voit leurs cocons 

 jaunes assembles dans un coin, mais absolument abandonnes 

 des $ qui n'essaient pas de les sauver, ni de les recueiller. 

 Par contre, elles prennent le plus grand soin des larves qu'elles 

 emportent et cachent. Je soupqjonne que chez ces fourmis, 

 moins sociales que les autres, les nymphes sortent seules de 

 leurs cocons, sans avoir besoin de 1'aide des 9." 



These observations relate to species of Ponera and are at 

 variance with the conclusions which I have reached from a 

 study of three other genera of Ponerinae. In many of the 

 nests which I have examined the total number of the eggs, 

 larvae and pupae, could scarcely be greater than one and one- 

 half to twice the number of the ants. This fact, together with 

 what has been said of the small number of eggs laid at one 

 time by a single female, shows very clearly that the Ponerinae 



1 Ann. de la Soc. Entomol. de Belgique. Tome 43, p. 443. 1899. 



