232 



ENTOMOLOGY 



plants that they attack are described^in a subsequent chapter, where 

 will be found also an account of the harvesting ants. 



The epiphytic plants Myrmecodia and Hydnophytum, of Java, form 



FIG. 271. Cecropiaadenopus. Base of FIG. 272. Hydnophytum montanum. Sec- 



petiole showing "Mailer's bodies." tionof pseudo-bulb, to show chambers inhabited 

 Slightly reduced. by ants. One-fourth natural .size. After 



FOREL. 



spongy bulb-like masses, the chambers of which are usually tenanted by 

 ants, which rush forth when disturbed. These lumps (Fig. 272) are 

 primarily water-reservoirs, but the ants utilize them by boring into them 

 and from one chamber into another. In plants of the genus Humboldtia 

 the ants can enter the hollow internodes through openings that already 

 exist. 



