The Honey Ants of Point Loma 
BY PERCY LEONARD 
Ever since Llave first described a Mexican honey ant in 1832, 
these insects have been more or less before the public notice, and yet 
there are many obscure points to be cleared up in respect to their habits, 
The following notes are a contribution to the subjeet, and are 
based upon nearly a year’s observations of these ants, both in the wild 
State and in eaptivity. 
In opening up'a nest of honey ants, we are liable to meet with 
Six distinct phases, Firstly, and most numerous are the workers, the 
undeveloped females which occur in three sizes, the majors, the minors, 
and the minims; and 
the so-called 
’’ who exer- 
““queens 
cise no regal power, 
~ but are simply the 
egg producers and 
mothers of the eom- 
munity. They have 
deprived themselves 
of their wings and 
inhabit the darkest 
recesses of the nest. 
Pig. 1. Winged female of Myrmecocystus mexicanus Next come the 
Mojave. Major, minor and minim workers. Two : : ; 
replete majors and a nodule brought Vir Pin 5 ema ] es, 
out of the nest. ‘ 
adorned with gauzy 
Wings of great beauty, and lastly, the almost brainless males, likewise 
Provided with wings. (Fig. 1.) 
Besides these we find the repletes, which are not, however, a dis- 
tinet phase, but are simply workers (usually majors) whose erops 
are so distended with honey as to justify their generic name Myrme- 
Cocystus (i. e., ant bladders). These ants have evolved their distine- 
tive habit with reference to climatic conditions. In the Californian 
Springtime the hills are covered with flowers and flowering shrubs. 
The Juicy shoots of many plants are also infested with aphides, which 
*Xcrete the “honey dew’’. These inseets use only a part of the sweet 
Sap sucked from the erowing shoots, the surplus being exereted, and 
