1886. | Notes on the Leaf-cutting Ants of Trinidad. 127 
surface near the edge, and saws a circular cut nearly all the way 
round with a saw-like motion of her finely serrate mandibles. To 
prevent the section falling she does not saw it all round, but 
when nearly severed seizes it by the edge and by a sharp upward 
jerk detaches it. Now she either marches directly off to the 
nest or lets the fragment drop to the ground and begins sawing 
another. Often quite a heap of pieces accumulates beneath the 
busy little sawyer. 
he CEcodomas are 
differentiated, as in 
workers, the latter be- Vf 
ing of course unde- ¥ 
veloped females. Four {É 
classes may be dis- ^ 
tinguished among the 
workers, only two of 
which take part in the 
foraging expeditions. 
The majority of these workers are of a pale reddish color with a 
Fic. 3.—(CEcodoma of Trinidad, male. 
g- 5- Fig. 6. 
Fig. 
Fic. 4.—Female. Fic. 5.—Worker major, or so-called soldier. Fic. 6.— Worker 
minor. All natural size. 
Stout body, short round unpolished head, which carries behind a 
