362 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1880. 



cutting, backed down with it, and started off home. In no in- 

 stance have I ever found one of these ants carrying a load of any 

 kind in an^' other way than as described above. Your account of 

 tlie Texas ant would answer as well for this. 



" The little leaf-cutters at Island Heights have no mounds at the 

 entrance to their formicaries. I found many nests, but none 

 with a mound. The sand pellets in every case where I found ants 

 at work were carried off several inches distant on every side and 

 scattered, as if for secrecy. The ants' movements were exceed- 

 ingly deliberate, always. Some seemed overloaded and rested 

 often, but never laid down their load. 



" A.11 the colonies were comparatively small. I was imable tO' 

 find any indication that the}^ were connected one with another. 



•' There is not, so far as my observations go, any elaborate open- 

 ing and closing of gates, such as you describe, but in wet weather 

 I usually found a leaf over the entrance to their nest. 



" The architecture of their caves is a miniature copy of that of 

 3'our Texas cutting ant. 



" I found them cutting only the pine leaf and the leaf of a small 

 shrub called Cow Wheat (Melantpi/rinn omerU aiiuin). Of this 

 plant the^' took the petals also. They carried the dry curled leaf 

 as well as the green and freshly cut. 



" They also carry and incorporate into the nest material the drop- 

 pings of certain larva> that feed on oak leaves." 



Mr. Morris observed at the same place a second and larger form 

 of leaf-cutting ant, which he thinks to be a distinct species ; but. 

 as he was not able to point out any of the nests to Mr. McCook 

 and has not yet made thorough examination, this point remains, 

 to be solved. 



The ant whose economy is described above closel}"^ resembles 

 the famous Aftafei^cens of our southern regions, having the same 

 leaf-brown color and the same characteristic spines. It is distin- 

 guished by a black longitudinal baud along the median dorsal 

 part of the abdomen, and by a similar band along the middle 

 part of the fjxce, marking the furrow formed by two ridges, the 

 prolongation (apparently) of the antennal ridges to the vertex of 

 the caput. A double row of spines extends along the entire tho- 

 rax and nodes, expanding at the prothorax into about four. Two- 

 castes of workers were found, appearing to be the workers major 

 and minor, in length respectively 4 and 3 millimetres, or about 

 one-sixth and one-eighth of an inch. The species appears to be 

 new, and Dr. McCook at least ventured conditionally to name it 

 the Northern Cutting Ant — Atta septentrionalis. 



The discover}^ at so northern a point of this species, with habits 

 quite identical with those of tropical congeners, seemed to the 

 speaker to be a remarkably interesting fact in the distribution of our 

 ant fauna. He was at once impressed by the striking contrast be- 

 tween the vast myriads of workers, the extensive excavations, 

 and the formidable and vigorous activities of the Texas colonies^ 



