1907.] Whcchr, Funyus-yrowiiiy Ants of North America. 691 



Urich is responsible for the erroneous statement that Cyphomyrmex 

 rimosus "does not cultivate any fungus," a statement which has been re- 

 peated by subsequent writers (Forel, Emerv). 



In 1896 Swingle read a paper on Trachymyrmex septentrionalis (= tardi- 

 grada auct.) before the American Association for the Advancement of 

 Science. He says: "In July of this year I examined some colonies of Afta 

 tardigrada, which Mr. Pcrgandc had found in the vicinity of Washington. 

 The nests are small subterranean cavities, 6-10 cm. in diameter, situated 

 from 2 to 15 or 20 cm. below the surface. Some nests have one cavity, 

 others two. Almost the whole cavity is filled with a grayish material loosely 

 and irregularly connected together. By watching the ants, it was deter- 

 mined that they carried into their nests the excrements of some leaf-eating 

 insect, lying on the ground under neighboring oak-trees. The same material 

 was found to constitute at least a large part of the substance filling the nest. 

 Even with a low magnifying lens, tufts of minute sparkling bodies could be 

 seen on the fragments of the fungus garden, while the whole mass was 

 interpenetrated by the white mycelium of a fungus. Examination with 

 higher magnification showed that the glistening tufts were really composed 

 of 'Kohlrabi' even more perfectly spherical than figured by M. Moeller. 

 The mature 'Kohlrabi' were very much larger than the mycelium below, 

 being 22 to 52 n wide and 30 to 56 p. long, while the supporting mycelial 

 threads were only 4 to 8 /_« in diameter. There are no septa dividing the 

 ' Kohlrabis ' from the mycelial threads. The whole appearance of the fungus 

 is strikingly similar to that found by ]\Ioeller, and it is by no means impossible 

 that it will prove to be the same species though the Kohlrabis are nearly 

 twice as large as what he reports." 



Forel (1896a-c, 1897, 1899-19006) has recorded a number of obser- 

 vations on the Attii of Colombia {A. sexdcns, cephalotes and laevigata; 

 Acromyrmex odos-pinosus, and species of Trachymyrmex, Sericomyrmex, 

 Mycocepurus, sa\d Apterostigmci) . He excavated one of the huge nests of 

 A. sexdens belonging to an extensive colony at Rio Frio (18966). "This 

 nest looked like an immature volcano and consisted of a mass of 12 to 20 

 fused craters. The v>hole nest was 5 or 6 m. in diameter and about 1 m. 

 high. The largest (median) crater was about 60 cm. in diameter, 28 cm. 

 high, and had an opening below of about 3^ cm. The smaller accessory 

 nests in the neighborhood (100 to 200 steps distant) had only 2-3 craters and 

 were much smaller. There are two kinds of craters; one consisting of sand 

 or soil of a gray color and consisting of the excavated earth, the others are 

 brown and consist of the rejected and useless remains of the gardens, i. e., 

 the portions that have lieen exhausted by the fungi, thrown out in this 

 manner in the form of brown pellets. The medium-sized workers are 



