96 
Psyche 
[June 
2.36 mm.; its length, taken from the posteriormost level of the occiput 
to the anteriormost level of the clypeus, is 2.19 mm. This specimen 
agrees well in size and structure with the heads of entire worker 
pupae. There: can be no doubt that it is from a worker specimen. 
Material examined. A total of 438 specimens, including 197 larvae 
(perhaps including some prepupae), 105 worker pupae, 24 worker 
heads, 48 worker mesosomas, and 64 worker gasters. Even if the 
various worker body parts are assumed to have resulted from dismem- 
berment of a smaller number of workers, the total number of indi- 
viduals represented in the collection is at least 197 + 105 + 64 m 366. 
All of these pieces were collected together by Dr. and Mrs. Leakey in 
a volume of matrix about 2 feet square and several inches thick, in a 
Lower Miocene Deposit on Mfwangano Island, near Rusinga Island, 
in the Kavirondo Gulf neighborhood of Lake Victoria, Kenya. The 
geology of this and similar deposits in the area has been briefly reviewed 
by Chesters (1957). The holotype and some paratypes will be de- 
posited in the British Museum (Natural History). Other paratypes 
will be placed in the ant collection of the Museum of Comparative 
Zoology, Harvard University, and in the Centre for Prehistory and 
Paleontology, Coryndon Museum, Nairobi, Kenya. 
The Zoogeography of Oecophylla 
The genus is represented by two living species: O. smaragdina 
(Labricius) which ranges from India to the Solomon Islands and 
Queensland; and O. longinoda (Latreille), which occurs throughout 
most of tropical Africa. These are the famous “weaver ants” whose 
workers employ the mature larvae as shuttles to bind the nests together. 
The nests are always arboreal and consist of clusters of green leaves 
folded over and fastened together with larval silk. A single mature 
colony usually occupies many such nests scattered through one or more 
trees. The colonies are highly territorial, defending their trees against 
other ant species and larger invading animals. The workers are ex- 
clusively arboreal in their foraging, collecting varied insect prey and 
attending coccids. The two species are very similar in both mor- 
phology and behavior, but sufficient minor differences in morphology 
exist to justify their specific separation. Over most of their ranges 
both species are very abundant and highly adaptable. They occur in 
rain forests, groves of crop trees, and even shade trees along urban 
streets. The most complete and general studies of the biology of the 
genus are contained in the works by Ledoux ( 1950, 1954) on O. longi- 
noda. Bhattacharya (1943) and Brown (1959) have reported on 
