THE 
AMERICAN NATURALIST 

Vor. XXXVI. February, 1902. No. 422. 


A NEW AGRICULTURAL ANT FROM TEXAS, WITH 
REMARKS ON THE KNOWN NORTH- 
AMERICAN SPECIES? 
WILLIAM MORTON WHEELER. 
THE genus Pogonomyrmex, comprising the true “ agricul- 
tural ants," is one of several formicid genera peculiar to the 
American fauna. It comprises more than a dozen species 
which range from Montana to Argentina, often over wide 
areas, though apparently absent from considerable portions of 
this vast region. As the species are mostly large and conspic- 
uous and inhabit exposed situations, they have attracted more 
attention than many of our American ants. Notwithstanding 
this fact, however, we are still very far from possessing an 
adequate knowledge of the habits and —— relationships 
of the various members of the genus. : 
The species described in the following pages seems to have 
escaped attention hitherto on account of its idiosyncrasies. It 
is small and inconspicuous, of a timid disposition, and lives 
under stones, instead of in exposed grassy regions like the 
other North-American species. It is, moreover, rather rare 
1 Contributions from the Zological Laboratory of the University of Texas, No. 24. 
85 oo 
