1906.] Wheeler, Habits of the Tent-building Ant. I 7 



nests, primarily, perhaps, for their own comfort and protection, but 

 at the same time admirably suited to a number of other purposes, 

 as I have shown on p. 7. The presence of the aphides and coccids 

 must also act as a stimulus akin to that which is exercised by the 

 presence of larvae and pupae, in calling forth as a response the 

 protective and philoprogenitive, and hence also the nest-building 

 instincts of the species. Originally the tents may have been con- 

 nected with the main nest by covered galleries such as are still built 

 by C. stolli, Brachyniyrmex heeri, some of the species of Formica of 

 the rufa group, and many termites, as a means of avoiding exposure 

 to light and enemies. Sometime it may be possible to test the 

 truth of these conclusions experimentally by isolating and exposing 

 colonies of C. lineolata on the stems of plants without depriving them 

 of an abundant supply of food and the materials from which carton 

 can be made. 



EXPLANATION OF PLATES I-VL 

 PLATE I. 



Fig. I. — Accumulation of resin on twig of pitch-pine {Pinus rigida) produced 



by the boring caterpillar of aTortricid moth (Retinia comstockiana 



Femald). x if . 

 Fig. 2. — Carton coccid-tent built by Cremastogaster lineolata pilosa Pergande 



around a twig of pitch-pine, exposed by cutting away part of the 



needles and showing the opening through which the ants enter and 



leave the tent, x i^. 

 Figs. 3 and 4. — Similar tents cut open to show the coccids on the twigs and 



the way in which the carton walls are supported by the pine 



needles, x i^. 



PLATE II. 



A carton coccid-tent built by Cremastogaster lineolata pilosa around a twig of 

 pitch-pine, x I5. 



PLATE III. 



Fig. I. — Unusually large coccid-tent built by Cremastogaster lineolata pilosa 



around a twig of pitch-pine, showing the entrance near the base of 



the lower branch on the right side, x i|. 

 Fig. 2. — Ca,rton a,-ph.\s-tenthvi\\thy Crem.astogaster lineolata on twig of swamp 



huckleberry, x if. From a specimen in the collection of Mr. 



Erich Daecke. 



PLATE IV. 



Fig. I. — Earthen aphis-tent built by Cremastogaster lineolata on dogwood. 

 X i|. From a specimen collected by Professor J. H. Comstock 

 near Ithaca, N. Y, 



