in cavities in the stalks of plants; under the bark of trees; and in 
logs, stumps, wooden posts, and houses. Galleries in branches may 
be anywhere from 1 inch to over 5 feet long. Workers are 4 to 9 
mm. long. The head, thorax, and petiole are usually yellowish-red 
or reddish, and the gaster is blackish or black. C. caryae discolor 
(Buckley), a species similar in appearance and habits to C. rasilis, 
has been recorded from Ohio to Kansas and Iowa and south to 
Texas and Florida. It is most common in the lower Mississippi 
Valley. C. castaneus (Latreille) occurs throughout the South but 
is most common in the Southeast. It nests in rotten logs and 
stumps or in the soil. Workers are yellowish to yellowish-red and 
from 7 to 10 mm. long. C. tortuganus Emery occurs in the south- 
ern half of Florida and apparently nests in small colonies in rot- 
ting wood or in the soil beneath stones. It also occurs in houses 
where it may be a pest. C. mississippiensis M. R. Smith has been 
found nesting in the new growth of white ash branches in Missis- 
Ssippi. Galleries are apparently limited to one year’s growth. 
C. pylartes fraxinicola M. R. Smith nests in the dead branches of 
various hardwods. It has been recorded from Mississippi. 
The Texas leaf-cutting ant, Atta texana (Buckley), is a serious 
pest of pine seedlings in east Texas and west-central Louisiana. 
It also defoliates and damages a wide variety of other plants, in- 
cluding orchard trees. Injury to pines is especially severe during 
the winter when there is a dearth of other green foliage. 
Texas leaf-cutting ants are rusty-red in color. The head is 
strongly bi-lobed; the antennae are 11-segmented and without a 
well-defined club; the thorax bears three pairs of prominent spines 
on top, with the anterior ones the largest; and the legs are extra- 
ordinarily long. The queen is about 18 mm. long; workers, from 
1.5 to 12 mm. long. 
Nests of the Texas leaf-cutting ant are constructed in the 
ground, usually in well-drained stand or loamy soils and com- 
monly on slopes facing the south or west (59). The interior of the 
nest may reach a depth of 20 feet and its outer surface may 
occupy up to one-tenth of an acre. It may contain a thousand or 
more entrance holes. Nest areas are usually marked by many 
crescent-shaped mounds, up to 5 to 14 inches high and a foot in 
diameter. Each mound surrounds an entrance hole (fig. 202). The 
nest consists of many cavities connected by narrow tunnels. There 
are vertical tunnels that extend to mound openings and lateral 
tunnels that lead outwards, sometimes for a hundred yards or 
F-482847 
FIGURE 202.—Mounds of the 
Texas leaf-cutting ant, 
Atta texana. 
