1913] Wheeler — Notes on the Habits of Some Central American Stingless Bees 7 



Trigona ruficrus Latreille. 



While collecting along the edge of a field near Zacapa, Guate- 

 mala, I found a huge nest of this species, lying on the ground at 

 the foot of a tree from which it had been torn. At first sight this 

 nest resembled that of a common termite (Eutermes ripperti), 

 being elliptical, nearly 2 feet long and more than a foot wide and 

 made of a dark, dry, earthy cerumen. My attention was attracted 

 to it by columns of large leaf-cutting ants (Atta cephalotes) and 

 fire ants {Solenopsis geminata). On following these I found that 

 the nest had been torn open by some of the natives and that it 

 contained a colony of T. rufricus which had been robbed of its 

 honey. The ants were completing the ruin by imbibing the 

 remnants of the honey and carrying off the softer and sweeter 

 portions of the cerumen in little lumps. The defenceless bees 

 had not deserted their abode but were vainly trying to repair the 

 damage. They did not attempt to attack me. 



Silvestri gives "irapua" and "caraboza" as the native names 

 of this bee in the province of Missiones. He describes and figures 

 the structure of the nest in detail, and says that the bees bite sav- 

 agely but without inflicting any pain. The honey is said to be 

 purgative. Von Ihering gives the native Brazilian name of the 

 insect as "irapoan." He also describes the nest in detail and 

 states that the honey is "blackish brown, opaque, odorless, of 

 unpleasant, nauseating, acridly sour taste, with strong acid 

 reaction." 



Trigona ruficrus corvina Cockerell. 



This bee was seen near San Jose, Costa Rica and at Corrozal in 

 the Canal Zone, busily collecting the sticky propolis from the sur- 

 faces of young orange leaves. But this insect is not always engaged 

 in such cleanly work. At the garbage crematory at Gatun, C. Z. 

 I saw it in great numbers mingling with the houseflies and blow- 

 flies inside the empty garbage barrels where it was collecting the 

 malodorous moisture that still clung to the wooden staves. The 

 honey of this bee, like that of T. bipundata, amalthea, argentata 

 and probably several other Central and South American Trigonas, 

 may, therefore, be as unwholesome an article of human food as 

 would be honey collected by houseflies, if these scavengers should 

 suddenly become social and take to storing such a substance. 



