HONEY ANTS. 



that some of the majors have a special tendency to this change by 

 reason of some peculiar structure or form of the intestine and abdom- 

 inal walls." Although McCook gave these excellent reasons for believ- 

 ing that the replete must develop from a worker of the ordinary type, 

 he did not actually witness the transformation. His account covers 

 a great many other details in the behavior of M. horti-deoruin, but as 

 many of these are common to most other Camponotine ants, they need 

 not be discussed in this connection. 



My own observations on M. horti-deorum were made during July 

 and August, 1903, and 1906. At first I worked in the Garden of the 

 Gods and located several nests on the ridges where McCook made his 

 classical observations many years ago. But the region is now so over- 

 run by tourists that it is no longer a 

 favorable spot for the quiet study of ant 

 colonies. I therefore sought new locali- 

 ties and was soon able to locate several 

 fine nests south of the Fontaine-qui- 

 Bouille along Bear Creek and Red Rock 

 Canons. A few nests were also found 

 west of Manitou and south of the Ute 

 Pass at a much greater distance from 

 the Garden of the Gods. In all of these 

 localities there are thickets of shin oaks 

 (Qucrcus undulata and gambcli), and 

 the nests are situated only on the sum- 

 mits of dry, stony ridges, just as they 

 are in McCook's locality. 



During the two summers I excavated fully a dozen fine colonies of 

 horti-deonun and was able to confirm in nearly every detail McCook's 

 interesting account of the nest architecture and the habits of the ordi- 

 nary and replete workers. I was unable to make observations at night, 

 but have no doubt that McCook's account of the foraging habits is 

 perfectly trustworthy. I am inclined to believe, however, that the 

 exudations of the Holcaspis galls may furnish only a portion of the 

 food of the ants and that these insects obtain much, if not most, of 

 their honey from the coccids and aphicls on the oaks and other plants 

 in the neighborhood. It would be strange, indeed, if these ants did 

 not take advantage of a food supply so much more copious than that 

 furnished by the galls. 



I have been able to prove, what has been surmised by McCook and 

 his predecessors, namely, that workers of the ordinary size and form 



FIG. 218. Repletes of Myr- 

 mecocystus horti-deorum, slight- 

 ly enlarged. (Original.) 



