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and bound together with the secretion of the maxillary glands 

 of the ants, and contains a large amount of fungus. The 

 fungus was named Septosporium myrmecophilum by Fresenius, 

 but Lagerheim thinks it is Cladotrichum microspiorum, 

 Saccardo. The hyphae of the fungus are said to be devoured 

 by the ants' larvae (the whole of the surface of the walls being 

 covered with a delicate bloom), and the mycelium helps to 

 strengthen the carton walls. As this fungus is only found 

 in the nest, and as no other species occurs in the nest, it is 

 probable that the ants intentionally cultivate it. It was 

 thought that only L. fuliginosus, Latr., and Liometopum 

 microcephalum, Pz., made carton in Europe, but recently 

 Wasmanu has shown that Lasius eniarginatus, Oliv., and I 

 that L. umbratus, Nyl., also do so. 



The nests of L. fuliginosus are found in the earth, at the 

 roots of trees, in hollow trees and logs, under the floors of 

 houses, etc. Oudemans found a nest in a turf-cellar, and 

 Zimmer found a nest in a child's coffin which had been buried 

 for about thirty-eight years, the whole of the coffin being 

 filled with carton. The colour of the carton is lighter or 

 darker according to the amount of soil mixed with it. 



Huber thought these nests were carved out of wood, but 

 Meinert and then Forel proved them to be made of carton. 



The Kev. F. D. Morice said that when it was supposed 

 that the nests were carved out of the wood, the dark colour 

 was supposed to be due to a secretion of the ants. Mr. DoNis- 

 THORPE said that it was due to the amount of soil mixed with 

 it, but that no doubt the acid secretion of the ants does produce 

 a dark stain also. Mr. E. E. Green said that these ants left 

 a dark stain across a light-coloured path in his garden, as 

 termites do, but that it might possibly have been the effect 

 of " honey-dew," as the ants had been feeding on aphides. 

 In answer to Prof. Poulton he said that doubtless the tracks 

 were elsewhere also, but were only readily visible on the path. 

 Dr. Chapman suggested that this fungus, like some others, 

 might become black when dead. Mr. Donisthorpe added 

 that larvae of this species had hardly grown in three years in 

 a nest of Mr. Crawley's, and suggested that this might be due 

 to want of this fungus as an article of food. 



