No. 422.] NEW. AGRICULTURAL ANT FROM TEXAS. 93 
only a small percentage of the Pogonomyrmex nests, and only 
those situated in certain localities, present such circles. Now 
to state that the mo/ifaciens, like a provident farmer, sows this 
cereal and guards and weeds it for the sake of garnering its 
grain is as absurd as to say that the family cook is planting 
and maintaining an orchard when some of the peach stones 
which she has carelessly thrown into the back yard with the 
other kitchen refuse chance to grow into peach trees.! 
There are several other facts which show that the special 
ring of grass about the mo/ifaciens nest is an unintentional 
and inconstant by-product of the activities of the ant colony. 
First, the Aristida often grows in flourishing patches far from 
the nests of molifactens. Second, one often finds very flourish- 
ing ant colonies that have existed for years in the midst of 
much-traveled roads or in stone sidewalks often a hundred 
or more feet from any vegetation whatsoever. In these cases 
the ants simply resort for their supply of seeds to the nearest 
field or lawn, or pilfer the oat bin of the nearest stable. Third, 
it is very evident that even a complete circle of grass like those 
described by Lincecum and McCook would be entirely inade- 
quate to supply more than a very small fraction of the grain 
necessary for the support of a flourishing colony of these ants. 
Hence, they are always obliged to make long trips into the 
surrounding vegetation, and thereby wear out regular paths 
which radiate in different directions, often to a distance of 
forty to sixty feet from the entrance of the nest. These 
paths in the case of the Mexican agricultural ant (P. barbatus 
sens. str.) remind one of human footpaths, as they may be as 
much as four to six inches wide in places. The existence of these 
paths, which are often found in connection with grass-encircled 
nests, is alone sufficient to disprove Lincecum's statements. 
McCook's conceptions of the external architecture of the 
molifaciens nest are hopelessly confused, notwithstanding the 
1 Lincecum was fond of attributing agricultural and horticultural propensities 
to ants. Thus he states ('67, pp. 28, 29) that the leaf-cutting ant pen v giis 
plants trees and vines on its nest! At the same time of course, like McCook, he 
failed to observe the marvelous mushroom-gardening habits of these ants, — 
another instance in which truth is stranger than fiction. 
