THE FUNGUS-GROWING ANTS. 



collected from the surface of the sand, built up into a flocculent mass 

 and held together and to the pendent rootlets by means of a snow- 

 white mycelium studded with the usual bromatia. 



3. Trachymyrmex. T. turrife.v (Fig. 192, a) and arizoncnsis are 

 confined to the dry regions of the southwest. The nest of the former 

 resembles that of Mycetosoritis, but is larger and, as a rule, in more 



d - . . . VJ - . - f, . w " f** 

 P . '.j- ' y c * , c u yC 



-r. , ' . -ff* '6, ^ .C . ' c./ 1 ^. 



.u c> " < <5; ' . c : '& <;.=.' 

 -J . c -^ .._..>*.. <r .-,: 



FIG. 202. Diagram of a large ^//a texana nest in strata of sand, blue and red clay. 

 (From a sketch by A. L. Melander and C. T. Brues.) 



compact soil. The vertical gallery, which opens on a turret-shaped 

 crater made of bits of sticks and leaves (Fig. 193), descends to a 

 depth of 38-110 cm. and has at intervals four to five subspherical 

 chambers 2-5 cm. in diameter and increasing in size with the depth 



