478 bulletin: museum of comparative zoology. 



"se perdio por la muerte de Roger" opposite their numbers in the 

 note-book, were uniques and were irretrievably lost, but numbered 

 duplicates of several, without names, are still in the Gundlach col- 

 lection. This collection in its entirety is preserved in a small sealed 

 box which cannot be opened. I was compelled, therefore, to study 

 the specimens, which are carded, through the glass lid, and this is at 

 such a distance from the specimens as to prevent satisfactory examina- 

 tion of fine structural details, especially in the smallest species, with 

 a pocket lens. Still it is possible to recognize most of the species 

 readily, and I have even described two new species of Macromischa 

 from the collection, with sufficient detail, I trust, to enable any future 

 myrmecologist to recognize them. 



It will be remembered that Gundlach was a very painstaking and 

 industrious naturalist, that he collected for many years and in many 

 parts of Cuba, and that he also received insects from his friend, an- 

 other Cuban naturalist, Felipe Poey. From these facts alone we may 

 infer that Gundlach's ant collection was reasonably complete so far 

 as the more common and more conspicuous Cuban species are con- 

 cerned. My own brief acquaintance with a limited portion of the 

 island only strengthens this inference. I have never collected in a 

 region in which ants, apart from a few widely distributed species, 

 are so scarce. Any one of our New England states is richer in colonies 

 of these insects than this large tropical island, and I may add, quite 

 as rich in species. That I have been able to find several forms not 

 seen by Gundlach is in part due to the fact that he was not aware that 

 many of the species nest as timid colonies in hollow twigs and that 

 some are nocturnal. His collection, therefore, does not contain such 

 common species as Camponotus ramulorum, Tapinoma litorale, Pseudo- 

 myrma delicatula, etc. Moreover, the nine beautiful species of 

 Macromischa which save the Cuban ant-fauna from being utterly 

 commonplace, and which almost certainly nest in hollow twigs, are 

 each represented by only one or two stray worker specimens which 

 he probably found in sweepings or running on bark or leaves. 



Of the forty-four forms listed by Gundlach, two, Heptacondylus 

 sulcatus Mayr and Polyrhachis cubaensis Mayr were erroneously 

 described as Cuban. The former is a synonym of Myrmicaria cume- 

 noides Gerstaecker from South Africa and the latter is also from the 

 same region. Omitting these, it will be seen that the list in the present 

 paper adds thirty-five forms. The total number seventy-seven of 

 ants now known from Cuba may be separated into three groups: — 

 first, forms known only from this island and therefore to be regarded, 



