66 Mr. F. Smith on some new Genera and Species 



mological value than hundreds of specimens taken at random, with- 

 out even a local habitation or a name. 



Great as is our astonishment when we behold the endless diver- 

 sity, I may add, the eccentricity of form in these remarkable insects, 

 it will not for a moment bear comparison with the wonder which 

 irresistibly seizes us when we are led into the details of their 

 marvellous individual economies. Wonderful, doubtless, arc many 

 monuments of engineering skill — vast tunnels excavated under lofty 

 hills, or hewn through solid rocks — mighty pyramids heaped up 

 thousands of years ago ; but the Ant ((Ecodoma), ages preceding 

 the epoch of the construction of our tunnels, or of the marvels of 

 Egypt, bored her highways beneath the rivers of Brazil, and raised 

 her mounds, which, when compared with the tiny architects, out- 

 strip even the gigantic pyramids themselves. 



The three genera treated upon in the present paper are each 

 remarkable for readily distinguished characteristics : Cryptoeerus 

 especially for the endless diversity of form in the different species, 

 and many of the species for the extraordinary differences in the 

 sexes of the same community. 



The species of the genus Pseudomyrma are distinguished by their 

 elongate form, petiolated abdomen, and by the greatly enlarged eyes of 

 all the sexes, in many species occupying the entire sides of the head. 



In the genus Eciton we have the reverse of the genus Pseudo- 

 myrma ; at least it is so in the only sex yet discovered — the worker ; 

 in these the eyes are so small, that, except in two or three species, 

 they cannot be seen without a high magnifying power, whilst in 

 three species I have been unable to discover any eyes at all. I shall 

 now proceed to give some account of the habits of the genera, in the 

 order in which I have here enumerated them. 



The habits of a few species of the genus Pseudomyrma have been 

 observed : most of these excavate the pith from dried twigs ; in the 

 tunnels or burrows thus formed the eggs are laid, and the young 

 brood developed : the communities are small, frequently not more 

 than twenty, exclusive of larvae and pupae. One species, P. termi- 

 taria, constructs its nest, or more correctly, takes \ip its abode, in the 

 tumuli of different species of Termcs : others form small elliptical 

 chambers in the outer walls of Termitaria, a single colony only 

 apparently occupying each chamber ; these are usually wide apart, 

 and do not appear to contain communities which have any connexion 

 with each other. The pupae of this genus of Ants do not spin 

 cocoons. The insocts, when at large, are to be seen coursing rapidly 

 over trees and herbage j their sting is very slight. 



