682 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XXIII, 



forager drops the portion of the leaf in the nest, ■which is taken up as required 

 by the small workers, and carried to a clear space in the nest to be cleaned. 

 This is done with their mandibles, and if considered too large it is cut into 

 smaller pieces. It is then taken in hand by the large workers, who lick it 

 with their tongues. Then comes the most important part, which almost 

 ahvavs is done by the larger workers, who manipulate it between their man- 

 dibles, mostly standing on three legs. The portion of the leaf is turned 

 round and round between the mandibles, the ant using her palpi, tongue, 

 her three legs and her antennae while doing so. It now becomes a small 

 almost black ball, varying in size from a mustard seed to the finest dust shot, 

 according to the size of the piece of the leaf that has been manipulated. The 

 size of the piece of the leaf is from \ by \ of an inch, to \ by \ of an inch. 

 I do not wish it to be understood that only one class of workers manipulate 

 the leaf, for all seem to take to it very kindly on emergency. Even the 

 smallest workers will bring their tiny ball to where the fungus bed is being 

 prepared. These balls, really pulp, are built on to an edge of the fungus bed 

 by the larger workers, and are slightly smoothed down as the work proceeds. 

 The new surface is then planted by the smaller workers, by slips of the fungus 

 brought from the older parts of the nest. Each plant is planted separately 

 and they know exactly how far apart the plants should be. It sometimes 

 looks as if the plants had been put in too scantily in places, yet in about 40 

 hours if the humidity has been properly regulated, it is all evenly covered 

 with a mantle as of very fine snow. It is the fungus they eat, and with small 

 portions of it the workers feed the larvse." 



In his second paper, published the same year (December, 1892), Tanner 

 describes the eggs and larvse of A. cephalotes and the method of feeding the 

 latter, together with certain observations which go to show that workers 

 lay eggs capable of developing into other workers or even queens. The 

 eggs become enveloped in a "pearly white fluffy growth." The larvse which 

 hatch from these eggs "are usually placed on the top of the nest and are 

 constantly attended by the smallest workers — the nurses — who separate 

 them into divisions according to their size. At first it seemed a mystery, 

 how these minute grubs could be fed so systematically, knowing that each 

 individual larva was only one among so many, yet certain it was, that all 

 Avere equally attended to. Further observations showed that nature had 

 provided most efficiently for them to ask for food when they required it. 

 This the larvfe do by pouting their lips; at this notification of their require- 

 ment the first nurse who happens to be passing stops and feeds them. The 

 nurses are continually moving about among them with pieces of fungus in 

 their mouths ready for a call for food. The nurses feed the minute larvse 

 by merely brushing the fungus across their lips showing that the spores 



