ANTS. 



* 



Myrmica punctiventris has coarse, scattered punctures 

 on the first gastric segment; scabrinodis and its varieties 

 have the antennal scape toothed or lobed at base; brevin- 

 odis, and its varieties, have the scape merely curved. The 

 latter is host to species of Leptothorax and nests in bog- 

 hummocks. 



Leptotliorax emersoni obtains its food by licking the 

 surfaces and mouth parts of the Myrmica workers, and 

 brings up its brood in little cells which communicate, by 

 means of slender galleries, with the larger chambers and 

 runways of Myrmica. L. curvispinosus nests in hollow 

 twigs, empty galls, etc.; it is yellow, with two dark spots 

 on the first gastric segment. 



Tetramorium ccespitum (Plate LXXXIX), from Europe, 

 occurs on lawns and in greenhouses. 



Dolichoderus maricB has a bright red head and thorax. 

 It forms large colonies, nesting in sandy places about the 

 roots of grasses and bushes. The workers ascend trees in 

 files and attend aphids and coccids. The colonies of D. 

 plagiatus are small; the head and thorax are coarsely 

 punctate and the gaster has large, yellowish-red spots. 



Tapinoma sessile nests under things, usually in sunny 

 places. The larvae and pupae are salmon-colored. 



Brachymyrmex heeri depilis is very small. It nests 

 under stones in shady woods and attends coccids on the 

 roots of plants. 



Prenolepis imparis makes small crater nests in oak 

 woods, especially on clayey soil. The workers visit trees 

 for the purpose of attending aphids, obtaining the secre- 

 tion of extrafloral nectaries, etc. After imbibing these 

 liquids, the gaster often becomes so distended that it is 

 four or five times its normal size and the insects walk 

 with difficulty. In this replete condition imparis workers 

 may be said to represent a temporary stage of the more 

 extraordinary enlargement of the gaster seen in the honey 

 ants (Myrmecocystus) of the Southwestern States and 

 Mexico. The males and females of imparis often pass the 

 winter in the parental nest and celebrate their nuptial 

 flight early in the spring. 



Lasius niger americanus (Plate LXXXIX) has 6-jointed 

 maxillary palpi, the last three joints being elongated and 



421 



