74 Bulletin of the Brovklyn Entomological Society Vol. XV 



from fungous diseases, it is nevertheless remarkable in this case, 

 since Paltothyreiis is a foraging, strictly terrestrial ant, not known 

 normially to climb the vegetation. The stroma of the fungus 

 grows out of the side of the thorax, as a rule between one of the 

 coxal articulations : a slender stalk, 2 cm. or more long, ends in 

 a club-shaped fructification bearing the ascocarps. More rarely 

 two such fructiferous stromata are borne by the same ant. 



A number of so-called " imperfect fungi " — incompletely de- 

 veloped, conidia-bearing or sterile stages of various Ascomycetes 

 — have been recorded from ants. A nest of Formica rufa 

 Linne, at Potsdam, Germany, was heavily infested with fungous 

 growths, about the size of a pin-head and attached mainly to the 

 thorax, more rarely to other parts of the body. The ants were 

 apparently but little hampered by their parasites. From cultures 

 obtained with these fungi, Bischoff concluded that they belonged 

 to several species, among them a Miicor, a Penicillium and a 

 yeast. Thaxter also found in the vicinity of Cambridge, Mass., 

 a fungus forming blackish incrustations on various parts of ants 

 and giving rise to a few short, colorless, erect branches ; the 

 exact nature of this plant has not been determined, nor is the 

 name of its host mentioned. 



To complete this brief account of the fungous parasites of ants, 

 I must still mention two imperfect fungi described by Prof. 

 Thaxter. One of these, Desmidiospora m>yrm^ecophila Thaxter, 

 of the family Mucedinacese, was growing luxuriantly on a large 

 black ant fastened to the under side of a rotting log in Connecti- 

 cut. The hyphse, much branched and septate, covered the host 

 in a white flocculent mass extending a short distance over the 

 substratum. The host of this parasite has recently been identi- 

 fied by Prof. Wheeler as Cam^ponotus herculecmus subsp. penn- 

 sylvanicus (De Geer). Prof. Wheeler further informs me that 

 the same fungus is in Prof. Thaxter's collection from New 

 Hampshire, growing on the same ant and its var. novcehoracensis 

 (Fitch). Another curious parasite belonging to the Dematiacese, 

 Hormiscium myrmecophilum Thaxter, was found on various 

 parts of a Pseudomyrma collected by W. M. Mann along the 

 Amazon River, Brazil. The majority of the individuals taken 

 from a nest were infected by the fungus, which is sufficiently 



