123 

 OECODOMA CEPHALOTES.— SECOND PAPER. 



In my former paper oii the GEcodoma Gephalotes, I gave 

 merely the treatment tlie leaves receive after they have been 

 carried into the nest, and I believe it to be the first record of 

 any observations of what takes place in the interior of a Parasol 

 Ant's nest. 



In " The Naturalist on the Amazons" by H. W. Bates, an 

 interesting description is given of the leaf carrying ants, Vol. 

 I., pp. 23 to 33, (original edition). At page 26 the author 

 writes : " It has not hitherto been shown satisfactorily to what 

 ixse they apply the leaves" and concludes they are used by the 

 Ants to thatch the domes which cover the entrances of their 

 subterraneous dwellings. 



In •'' The Naturalist in Nicaragua," by T. Belt, is another 

 interesting description of the leaf cutting Ants, pp. 71 to 84, 

 (original edition), on p. 80 this author writes : " Notwithstand- 

 ing that many columns of the Ants Avere continually carrying 

 in the cut leaves, I could never find any quantity of these in the 

 burrows, and it was evident, that they were used up in some 

 way immediately they were brought in." On p. 79 the author 

 stated : " Some naturalists have supposed that they use the 

 leaves directly as food ; others, that they roof their under- 

 ground nests with them. I believe the real use they make of 

 them {i.e. the leaves) is as a manure, on which grows a minute 

 species of fungus." It is therefore evident that although Bates 

 had not arrived at what the Ants did with the leaves Avhen first 

 brought in, he was the first to suggest that these Ants were 

 " mushroom growers and eaters" — although he had never seen 

 them actually eat the fungus. 



That there are two diiFerent species of Parasol Ants iu 

 Trinidad I feel certain and for the present I am inclined to 

 believe there is a. third. The Sauba Ant mentioned by Bates is 

 the one known here as mostly belonging to the high Avoods, 

 while those mentioned by Belt are, I believe the ones we find in 



