236 



Formica fusca Linn., var. subsericea Say. 



This ant was taken in the upland Bates woods (Sta. IV, a) Aug. 

 26 (No. 163). See the list of prairie invertebrates, p. 190. 



Myrmica rubra Linn., subsp. scabrinodis Nyl., var. schencki Emery. 



This ant (No. 140) was found Aug. 22 under leaves in a small 

 ravine on a shady slope (Sta. IV, b) from the upland forest to the 

 valley bottoms. The soil under these leaves had been thoroughly tun- 

 neled by small mammals during the preceding winter, but recently the 

 leaves had not been disturbed. The soil was a mixture of sand, clay, 

 and vegetable debris, was moist, and contained few kinds of animals. 

 A single ant of this variety (No. 140) was taken while collecting spec- 

 imens of Stigmatomma pallipes. 



This species is listed by Wheeler (Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. 

 21 ' P- 373- I 9°5) as a ne ld ant which prefers to nest in grassy pas- 

 tures and lawns, in situations exposed to the sun. Our specimen 

 was, therefore, found in an unusual habitat. 



Tapinoma sessile Say. Cocoanut Ant. 



This cocoanut ant, so called because of the odor of the workers, 

 which has been compared to that of decayed cocoanuts, was found 

 in the lowland part of the Bates woods, at the base of the slope to 

 the bottoms (Sta. IV, c) Aug. 22 (No. 139). A large colony was 

 found among the surface layers of dry dead leaves ; from it were se- 

 cured two queens, vast numbers of eggs, and also larvae, pupae, and 

 workers, Wheeler ('05, pp. 373, 389) states that this ant usually 

 nests in open sunny woods, the borders of woods, and under stones, 

 logs, etc. 



Schwarz ('90b, p. 247) records beetles as living with this ant. 



Camponotus hcrculeamts Linn., subsp. pennsylvanicus DeG. Carpen- 

 ter Ant. 

 This species was taken from under the bark of a rotting stump 

 among a dense second-growth, on the valley slope (Sta. IV, b) be- 

 tween the upland and the lowland forest Aug. 17 (No. 84). This 

 stump was in that stage of decay so often utilized by the large Caro- 

 lina slug, Philomycus carolincnsis, and the horned Passalus beetle, 

 Pcssahis cornutus. The colony was recently founded, for the dea- 

 lated female occupied a small cell excavated in the rotten sap-wood. 

 This colony consisted of four pupae and six larvae of different sizes. 

 Another colony was taken in the same stump, from the rotted sap- 

 wood zone, in company with the snail Philomycus carolincnsis and 

 some kind of pulmonate snail eggs. This colony was in a more ad- 

 vanced stage than the preceding, about a dozen larvae, seven pupae. 



