April, '09] 



JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 



191 



the ocelli become visible as minute dark spots upon the head. The 

 male pupa, like the worker pupa, passes through gradations of creamy- 

 yellow, light brown and dark brown to almost black before transform- 

 ing to the adult stage. The color reached by the male pupa just prior 

 to transformation is much deeper than that attained by worker pupae. 

 The males are assisted in their transformation to the adult stage by 

 the workers, and the pupal skin, or at least a portion of it, is worked 

 backwards to the tip of the abdomen and there shed entirely. Within 

 a few hours after transformation the wings of the male become fully 

 expanded. The following table shows the duration of the male pupal 

 stage at different seasons : 



TABLE IV 

 Duration of Pupal State, Individual Males, 1908 



Formation of New Colonies 



Reference has already been made to the possibility of new colonies 

 being formed by workers associating themselves with wandering or 

 migratory ( ?) fertilized queens. However, the more common method 

 of colony formation is a very different process. In the autumn months 

 there is a marked tendency for colonies to unite and seek dry sheltered 

 situations, such as masses of leaves, straw, etc., in which to pass the 

 winter. Comparatively few colonies attempt to pass the winter in 

 underground nests unless these are situated in protected places, as 

 under buildings, boards, vegetation, etc. The large winter colonies 

 frequently contain hundreds of queens. With the approach of warm 

 weather small colonies, varying in size from one queen and a dozen or 

 two workers to a half dozen queens and several hundred workers, 

 migrate out from the large over-wintering colonies and establish them- 



