1881.] A New Leaf Cutting Ant. IOI 
In the line marching towards the nest, was one carrying a small 
white stone, and others carrying the striated droppings found 
under bushes on which worms are feeding. The only other leaf 
carried by them, so far as I have observed, is the leaf of cow 
wheat (Melampyrum americanum), a plant which abounds in the 
woods. Of this plant they collect the flower as well as the leaf. 
On the 17th of August I dug out a formicary of the leaf cutter 
in the presence of Mrs. Treat, who, having heard of my observa- 
tions, came on to see for herself. Our discoveries were startling. 
Instead of small cells we found what, in comparison to the size of 
the ants, may be called caverns. Unfortunately these were 
crushed by the spade, so that their size and shape could not be 
accurately determined. 
In the cells were masses of spongy material of a leather color, 
and full of irregularly formed cells or pockets in which were some 
callow ants and many mature ones. Two of these large cavities 
were found containing this strange material. It was evident that 
the ants manufactured the leaf cuttings into a soft nest for their 
young. There were a few males and females, and one ant without 
wings much larger than any others in the formicary. 
The spongy material broke down with handling, but showed its 
vegetable origin under the glass. Indeed, a few of the particles 
found in the first cell, near the surface of the ground, had not 
entirely lost their green color. Our impression was, that the leaf 
matter was partially masticated and then webbed together. 
On September 8th I selected for examination a nest in a more 
retired locality, and from which the trees had just been removed. 
Immediately under the turf, not more than three inches below the 
surface, ‘was the first cell. It was about the size of a large coffee 
_ cup and not far from the shape of one. The sides were smooth, — 
compact and firm, though made in the clean white sand. They 
were lined with fine yellow sand which had been brought up from 
a depth of about two and a-half feet. This seemed as if held 
loosely together by a web-like substance and constituted a thick 
soft curtain against the walls. On the floor lay a mass of the 
porous, spongy substance found in the first nest. A few ants 
were found here differing in size and color; one was nearly red, 
another brown with dark band, and others grayish. The latter 
were callow. : 
Adjoining this was a small cell one and a-half inches in diame- 
