88 HOIiX KXPKDITION XARRATIVK. 



ants were found in oacli of those horizont;il piissagcs. They are (luite incapalilc of 

 movement, tlieir small liodics looking like little appendages of the swollen alxlomeii, 

 which has the appearance of an ahnost transparent bladder with the haid tc'iga 

 and sterna forming dark hands across it on the upper and unch'r surface. 



When the nest was disturbed the workers made no attempt to hide the honey 

 ants, in fact it would be a matter of considerable difficulty to move tliesi; as tl)e, 

 liurrow is not large enough to allow many ants to work at once, and it would take 

 tlie ccind)ined elTorts of a fair nundjer to carry off one of their honey pots. 



The largin- nuudjer of honey ants is appai'ently to Ije found ncai' the; Ijottom 

 of tlie Imrrow, which may go down for a depth of five or six feet. Unfortunately 

 we could not iind the winged forms, but these have since been sent to me l)y 

 INIr. K. C. Cowle, who lias spent a considerable tinu; in securing them under 

 ditliculties which can only Ije ajjjjreciated by tliose who liave attempted to collect 

 in sucii a district as Central Australia during sunniier time. The connnonest 

 form, the nest of which we examined, was first descril)ed by 8ir John Lubbock 

 undei' the name of Cainponohis iiijlafiis and is called by the natives Yarrunipa. 

 The blacks are very fcjnd of it and the women or lubras dig it up in scores from 

 the hard sandy ground in Mulga scrub, though it is only found in certain localities. 



Mr. Cowle's efforts have resulted in securing two new species during the jiast 

 year, wliicli have been described l)y Mr. Froggatt under the names of Caiiiponotiis 

 cowh'i and C. inidas. More than thirty species of the genus, which is world-wide 

 in its distribution, are known in Australia, but there are as yet only three of 

 them in which the curiously modified individuals are known to exist. Of C. anvlci 

 I found a few specimens in a small nest under a block of quartzite in tlie 

 McDonnell Range, Ijut the splendid series since secured by Mr. Cowle at Tllamurta 

 in the James Range, includes all the various foi'ins. The body is a golden colour 

 with the terga and sterna orange-tinted and they do not appear to reach the size 

 of the honey ants of the sjjc^cies C. iiiflatus. Tn C. inidas, the specimens of which 

 I ow(! entirely to INIr. Cowle, the individuals do not a,ppear to become anything 

 like so much inflated as in both of the other species, and the honey ant, though 

 swollen out, is probably capable of a certain amount of movement. 



Honey ants similarly modiiicd to those found in AustraJia have been descriljcd 

 liy Mr. AV. We.smael as occurring in Mexico and hy Mr. H. 0. M'Cook in 

 Colorailo. Tn each case they (^\•ist in dry, a.rid country and the unxlified 

 individuals niay perhaps be I'egarded as specially connected with tlic nature of 

 the surroundings. Just as bees stoi'e up honey in combs and use it when food 



