235 



colony of this ant (No. 125) was found under the bark of a decaying 

 oak stump (Sta. IV) in which the sap-wood was honeycombed, but 

 the remainder soHd, though discolored. 



Forel (Psyche, Vol. 9, p. 237. 1901) remarks that Aphccnogas- 

 ter is "very fond of termites, and when one uncovers and scatters 

 about a nest of termites in a wood, they hasten to feast on the suc- 

 culent morsels." These observations suggest the possible fate of 

 the captured termites ; none of the ants were seen to eat them, how- 

 ever. In the absence of observations, the missing head mentioned 

 above may be variously accounted for. 



This habit of carrying off termites has been observed in other 

 species of ants. Forbes (19th Rep. State Ent. 111., p. 198. 1896) re- 

 ports that near Carterville, Mason county, 111., Mr. John Marten 

 observed Formica scJiaufussi {^Formica pallid c-fulva Linn., subsp. 

 schaufussi Mayr) to pick up and carry away the living termites 

 when its nest under a log in which termites aboimded, was disturbed, 

 and McCook (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1879, p. 155) has ob- 

 served similar behavior in the case of the mound-building ant, For- 

 mica cxsectoidcs Forel. 



The histerid beetle Hctccrius blanchardi Schwarz has been found 

 in nests of this ant (Wheeler, 'loa, pp. 388, 389) ; and European ob- 

 servers have seen ants carrying and rolling them about. Consult 

 also Schwarz ('90b, 247) for a list of beetles found with this ant. 



Wheeler ('loa, p. 206) lists A. fidva as a glade species which in 

 the forests utilizes logs and branches as substitutes for stones. (See 

 Wheeler, '05, pp. 372-373-) 



Aphccnogastcr fennessecnsis Mayr. Tennessee Ant. 



A colony of this ant (No. 87) was taken Aug. 17 from a decaying 

 stump, situated on the slope (Sta. IV, b) from the upland forest to 

 the lowland on the river bottom. 



According to Wheeler (Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. 20, 1904, 

 p. 362, and Vol. 21, 1905, p. 373) this species normally nests in dead 

 wood in rather open forests. He holds the opinion that the queen of 

 this species can not rear her own brood, and thus establish a new 

 colony, but must utilize a small or weak colony of the allied species 

 A. fidva Roger, which lives under stones. Thus the new colonies are 

 started under stones; later, when they become numerous, they are 

 found in rotten wood. This, Wheeler concludes, indicates that they 

 "migrate away from the fidva workers." Tanquary ('11) has per- 

 formed some interesting experiments which show that queens of 

 tennessecnsis are adopted by colonies of other ants, a result which 

 seems to confirm Wheeler's anticipation. 



Schwarz ('90b, p. 247) records two beetles found with this ant. 



