1967] 
Creighton — Cryptocerus texanus 
37 
find that it contained twelve queens, fifty-six majors and one hundred 
and twelve medias and minors. It is hard to explain why so few of 
the latter leave the nest but this behavior accords well with earlier 
observations on captive colonies, where the majority of the members 
spend long hours packed into a nearly immobile mass near the outer 
end of the nest passage. It is possible that with the higher tempera- 
tures which occur during the summer months a greater percentage 
of the colony engages in foraging. But in this connection it is well to 
remember that the colony exposed on April 1 1 contained ten pupae, 
one hundred and ninety-two larvae and one hundred and seventy- 
eight eggs. Despite the small number of foragers it is plain enough 
that their activities had brought through considerable winter brood 
and this is supported by callows and advanced brood taken from 
other nests as early as February n. 
It was originally supposed that the free colonies would have to be 
supplied with food, since the mature grapefruit leaf lacks pollen- 
trapping hairs. The foragers from the free colonies soon overcame 
this difficulty by utilizing a transient pollen trap on the young leaves. 
Each of these has an expanded flange at either side of the petiole and 
before the leaf reaches full size there are sticky hairs on the lower 
surface of these flanges. Even though they are evanescent, these hairs 
supplied the colonies with sufficient pollen to keep them in good 
condition. The foragers from the free colonies also fed on honey- 
dew when they could get it. Their reaction here was similar to 
that described by Creighton and Nutting for Cryptocerus rohweri 
in 1965 (3). The aphids (presumably A. sphaericola ) had covered 
the leaf surface with a film of honey-dew and it was this, rather than 
the aphids which interested the texanus workers. The ants appeared 
to care nothing for the aphids, for they pushed them aside and walked 
over them in order to get at the honey-dew. The aphids plainly 
disliked this treatment for they would often withdraw their mouth- 
parts and move to another part of the leaf. It seems well to note 
that in the Rio Grande Valley aphids are present in significant num- 
bers only during two rather brief periods, one in early spring, the 
other in the fall. If these same conditions hold over the entire range 
of texanus it is likely that honey-dew plays little part in its diet. 
The control colonies had to be provided with food, but this diffi- 
culty was unexpectedly simplified when it was found that Tillandsias 
trap large numbers of pollen grains. There are two species of this 
epiphyte in the Rio Grande Valley, T. usneoides (“Spanish moss”) 
and T. recurvata (“ball moss”). Each of these plants has elongate, 
strap-like leaves which are covered with a reticulum of thin, white, 
