ANT COMMUNITIES 



toadstools were attached, looking like ancient sea- 

 shells. Within these the ants had settled. The in- 

 teriors swarmed with workers and larvae; and, as evi- 

 dence that the task of enlargement was going on inside 



Fig. 26 NEST OF PSEUDOMYRMA BELTI ON MEXICAN ACACIA 



THORNS 



> 



of both toadstools and stump, the outer bark of one 

 large root was covered with fresh wood-dust. 



In tropical and subtropical countries examples of this 

 habit are common on certain thorn-bearing trees and 



shrubs, as the Acacia. These thorns 

 are often quite formidable in size. 

 I have had specimens of them which 

 had been inhabited bv ants of the 



> 



widely spread genus Pseudomyrma. 

 Near the points circular gates were 

 cut out for entrance and exit, and 

 the commune was established in the 

 hollow interior (Figs. 26 and 27). 

 It is believed that some ant-inhabited plants, as 

 Cecropia adenopus, furnish in themselves a supply of 



36 



Fig. 27 PSEUDOMYR- 

 MA BELTI (EMERY) 



MAGNIFIED 



