ANTS. 



develops much more slowly within the alimentary tract of the ant larva 

 and appropriate.- a portion of the food before it has been assimilated. 

 Finally, the l.oincclinsa within the Formica nest leads to a withholding 

 of the necessary food from the larvae, or, if Wasmann's view be adopted, 

 at least to a withholding of the proper kind of food. And the results 

 of these different methods of direct and indirect vampirism are the 

 phthisergate. the mermithergate and the pseudogyne, respectively. 



In concluding this chapter brief mention must be made of two 

 other categories of animals which have ethological relations to the ants, 

 namely, the myrmecophags and myrmecoids. The myrmecophags 

 merely prey on the ants without showing any desire to live in their 

 nests. To this group belong several spiders (Theridion ), the ant-lions 

 ( M vnnelcon ), the peculiar larvae of the Dipteron Lampromyia tuiki, 

 which in the north African deserts entraps ants in pits like those of 

 the ant-lions, certain solitary wasps (Crabronidae), some amphibians 

 (toads), reptiles (lizards, amphisbaenians ) , birds (woodpeckers, ant- 

 thrushes ) and mammals (ant-eaters). The Doryline and slave-making 

 ants regularly eat the larvae and pupae of other ants, and even man 

 himself in some parts of the world is myrmecophagous. 



The myrmecoids are the ant-mimics and are therefore hard to dis- 

 tinguish from the myrmecophiles. They comprise a great many 

 arthropods, especially jumping spiders (Synemosyna, Synageles, etc.), 

 Heteroptera (Alydus calcaratus, Nabis lativentris, etc.), wasps and 

 tiger beetles. Some of these insects may be at the same time myrme- 

 cophags or myrmecophiles, and their striking resemblance to ants may 

 aid them in approaching their prey. Among the celebrated cases of 

 myrmecoidy may be mentioned the Sudanese cricket Mynnecophana 

 falla.r. which is extremely ant-like, and the Indian wasp Rhinopsis 

 rnficornis, which closely mimics Siina ntfonigra. The striking resem- 

 blance of some of our longicorn beetles of the genera Clytanthus, 

 Eudcrccs. C'yrtoplwnts and Tilloiuorplia to ants must have been noticed 

 by every collector. Mr. Wm. Beutenmuller informs me that a black 

 longicorn, Michtli\soina hetcrodo.viiin of North Carolina, mimics the 

 workers of Cainpoiwtus pcnnsyh'anicits to an extraordinary degree. 

 Forel and Emery have pointed out certain cases of mimicry among .the 

 ants themselves, for example, Dolichodcrus j-notatus, Colobopsis tnin- 

 cata and Cainponotus lateralis, the workers of which are all very similar 

 in color and behavior and are often found running on the same tree. 

 Whether these and many other cases of myrmecoidy are anything more 

 than accidental resemblances remains to be seen. 



