216 ANTS. 



Many i-.pecies of the highly arboreal genus Aztcca build carton nests, 

 and these >hovv considerable range of variation in form and structure. 

 The suspended ncMs of ./. aitrita, inathildcc trigona, multinida, lalic- 

 iiiaiidi, scliiinpcri. etc., are more or less egg-shaped or cylindrical and 

 resemble the carton nests of termites and Cremastogaster. Other 

 species (Arjtcca haii'ifc.r, stalactitica, dt'cipcns and lanians) build their 

 paper nests in the form of long pendant stalactites. A. hypophylla lives 

 umler leaves whose edges are attached to tree-trunks by means of car- 

 ton, A. .rvsticola lives in meandering carton galleries on the surface of 

 large stone> in forests, and A. inucllcri, constructor and iiigrircntns 

 use more or less carton in the construction of their galleries in plant 

 cavities. 



The interesting paleotropical genus Polyrhachis contains several 

 carton-building species. These ants like the African Tetramorium 

 aciilcatnin and certain species of Dolichodcrus attach their small, and 

 often very symmetrical nests to the surfaces of leaves. Forel has 

 examined the condition of the carton in the different genera above 

 mentioned and finds that it varies greatly in its consistency, from 

 the hard ligneous substance of Lasius fitliginosus to the finest, thinnest 

 and most pliable paper. It consists of vegetable particles glued to- 

 gether with a secretion of the maxillary glands, which are enormously 

 developed in the workers of some of the species. When the nests are 

 built in hollow logs (Lasius fitliyinosns, Limoinctopiim microcephalum ) 

 wood filings are used in making the carton. In some species like the 

 South American Dolichodcrus attclaboides cow-dung is employed. Ac- 

 cording to Forel (1893/0, D. bispinosus of tropical America uses the 

 seed-hairs of the silk-cotton tree (Boinba.r ceiba ). Tetramorium afri- 

 raintiii and aciilcatnin of the Congo line their nests with a thin layer of 

 carton consisting of vegetable detritus and fungus hyphse ( Santschi, 

 1908). The flexibility of the carton in all cases depends on the amount 

 of glandular secretion mixed with the vegetable particles. 



The most extraordinary ant-nests are undoubtedly the silken struc- 

 tures inhabited by certain species of (Ecophylla, Cainf>notiis and Poly- 

 rhachis, all genera belonging to the same subfamily. The following 

 description of several silken nests of Polyrhachis and the nests of 

 CEcophyl/a is taken from Forel (1894^) : 



The nest of the Polyrhachis jcrdonii Forel which I received from 

 < 'eylon through Major Yerbury is very interesting. This species builds 

 upon leaves small nests, the wall of which greatly resembles in ap- 

 pearance the shell of many Phryganeidse larvje. Pebbles, and especially 

 small fragments of plants, are cemented together by a fine web or 



