33 6 



ANTS. 



(Fig- 194). The garden.- arc suspended like those of Mycctosoritis 

 and consist of triturated vegetable substances ( leaves, oak-catkins, etc. ) 

 covered with a white mycelium. T. septentrionalis ( Fig. 192, b), our 

 most widely distributed Attiine ant, ranges from Texas through the 

 Southern and Atlantic States as far north as the Raritan River in New 

 Jersey. Its nests, which are always excavated in sand, consist of two 

 to seven sulphcrical chambers (Fig. 196). When there are only 



FIG. 203. Entire fungus garden of Atta le.vana ; about ! 4 natural size. ( Photograph 



by A. L. Melander and C. T. Brues.) 



two of these, the nest usually resembles that of Mycctosoritis and T. 

 tiirn'fe.v, although the entrance is oblique and the excavated sand is 

 thrown out to one side of the opening and not built up in the form of 

 a regular crater (Fig. 195). When several chambers are present, there 

 are two or three galleries each with one or two chambers, branching 

 off from the main or entrance gallery below the first chamber. The 

 total depth of the nest is usually much less than in tnrrifc.v (about 

 35 cm.). The gardens resemble those of turrife.v, but the fungus has 



