^ ^ KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



high The Chambers are connected by galleries of various lengths 

 about three-eighths of an inch in diameter, and, beyond the firs 

 three or four inches below the base of the mound, they are not so 

 numerous or close together, many of them here being six inches or 

 more apart. I found these galleries and chambers penetrating the 

 earth to the distance of nine feet. Throughout the entire nesf are 

 granaries stored with^seeds, many of these storerooms being sealed. 

 Many of the other chambers are nurseries, in which are found the 

 larv«. pupae, and young ants. These are probably shifted from one 

 room to another as the surrounding conditions require. The other 

 chambers seem to be merely working-rooms and living-rooms 



feeed of various kinds are gathered upon the field and carried within 

 the nest The husks or hulls are torn off and carried out, to be de- 

 posited to one side of the clearing, while the plump, sound seeds are 

 stored away in the storerooms or granaries. The seeds found in the 

 chambers are those of the surrounding vegetation, excepting, of 

 course, those that are too large for them to handle. The seeds of the 

 common pigweed (Amaranthns cdbus) were found in abundance in 

 nearly all the nests examined. Seeds of the genus Helianthus were 

 common in several of the nests. In a millet-field, the ants were busily 

 engaged harvesting the seeds of the millet which surrounded their 

 nest. 



Three classes of ants are found within the forraicary-the queens 

 the males, and the working caste ( Fig. 11 ). The queens and males are 

 winged and much larger than the workers. In the nests examined there 

 seemed to be about an equal number of the queens and males. The 

 emales are about seven-sixteenths of an inch in length. The color 

 throughout is a yellow brown. They have one pair of small com- 

 pound eyes and three very small ocelli. The large, black mandibles 

 are armed with seven teeth. All females are provided with a sting 



Ihe males are about three-eighths of an inch in length being 

 somewhat smaller than the females. The head and thorax are nearly 

 black. The abdomen is brown and more pointed than that of the fe- 

 males. The head, which is small, bears two large compound eyes and 

 hree small oceli, the middle one being much larger than the other 

 two. As with all hymenopterous stinging insects, the males have no 

 sting. 



_ The workers vary from three-sixteenths to five-sixteenths of an 

 inch m length. Their color is a rich chestnut brown throughout 

 Ihe head is very large, being from two to three times the width of 

 the prothorax. The large, curved mandibles, armed with seven teeth 

 are well fitted for the purpose of general work, such as seizing cut- 

 ting, crushing, and sawing. The head bears no ocelli. The compound 



