Vol. ///. October, i go 2. No. j. 



BIOLOGICAL BULLETIN. 



AN AMERICAN CERAPACHYS, WITH REMARKS ON 

 THE AFFINITIES OF THE CERAPACHYIN/E. 1 



WILLIAM MORTON WHEELER. 



The singular ant described in the following pages was discov- 

 ered by Miss Augusta Rucker within the city limits of Austin, 

 Texas, on May 1 1 of the current year. Impressed by the 

 peculiar, elongate, and segmentally constricted body of the in- 

 sect, Miss Rucker fortunately secured nearly all the individuals 

 in the nest, including the apterous queen. The most superficial 

 study showed that the insect could belong to none of the de- 

 scribed North or South American genera of Formicidae. A 

 note from Professor Emery, to whom a few of the specimens 

 were sent, and comparison with some rare ants generously sent 

 me by that gentleman and by Dr. Gustav Mayr, made it per- 

 fectly evident that the new form must be assigned to the interest- 

 ing genus Cerapachys (subgenus Parasyscia), representatives of 

 which were hitherto known only from the Old World (Africa, 

 Asia and Papuasia). 



The CerapacJiys nest was found about six inches below the 

 surface soil under a layer of large flakes of limestone in the 

 shade of some hackberry trees growing on the banks of Waller 

 Creek. At first only six workers and the queen were taken, but 

 on the following day Miss Rucker and myself succeeded in un- 

 earthing four more workers on the same spot. The whole nest 

 could not have contained much more than a dozen specimens. 

 Unfortunately there were no larvae or pups. When first seen 

 the Cerapachys were engaged in a battle with some much smaller 

 subterranean ants (Ponera trigona var. opacior) which seemed to 

 be invading the nest. The new species was slow in its move- 



1 Contributions from the Zoological Laboratory of the University of Texas, No. 37. 



181 



