> > I 



2 34 



ANTS. 



l\nici'a. rscudoponcni. I.cptoyenys, Duicamina, Odontomachus, Ano- 

 clictus). Some of tlu -pccies of Poncra also have long cylindrical 

 dorsal tubercles which are glutinous at their ends and serve to anchor 

 the larva to the walls of the nest. 



The hri-tly tuhercles of the third group of Ponerine larvae are so 

 prominent a> readily to suggest the question of their function. Pro- 

 fessor L. Biro, who made >ome observations on the larvae of Pseudo- 

 ponera stii/inu. which he sent to Professor Emery, believes that the 

 pointed tubercles are organs of defence. He saw these larvae, when 

 disturbed by some termites, move their long necks back and forth with 



FIG. 133. Female, male and worker of Pachycondyla harpa* X 2. (Original.) 



sufficient force to drive away the intruders. It is possible that the 

 tubercles, at least in the younger larvae, may function as " poils d'accro- 

 chage " in assisting the workers to carry their brood in packets instead 

 of singly. Possibly, too, they are used in defending the larvae from 

 one another, for the larvae, like the adults, are highly carnivorous and 

 when food is scarce probably attack one another. 



All Ponerine larvae, so far as observed, are fed with pieces of insect 

 food. This method, which is undoubtedly very primitive, is also 

 adopted by many specialized ants, but as a rule their larvae are given 

 regurgitated food. My first observation on this singular method of 

 feeding the larvae was made on a colony of Pachycondyla harpa.v found 

 May 5 under a stone at the foot of Mt. Bonnell, near Austin, Texas. 

 Before the ants could carry them away. I scooped up a fine lot of 

 larvae, together with the earth in which they were lying. Among these 

 were several pieces, one or two segments long, of a recently killed 



