1958 ] Wilson, Durlach, Roth — Chemical Releasers 109 
back and forth along the back wall before dropping their 
burdens on the refuse piles. Others were seen to approach 
the back wall unburdened, to pick up corpses already on the 
piles, and to transport them in similarly restless fashion 
before re-depositing them. 
It is a curious fact that in nature such “cemeteries” are 
rare or non-existent in the vicinity of Pogonomyrmex badius 
nests. During field studies conducted in northern Florida 
and southern Alabama, it was found that corpses re- 
moved from the nests are carried only a short distance 
beyond the rim of the nest crater before being dropped. 
Once abandoned, they are soon collected by scavenging 
workers of the dolichoderine species Conomyrma pyramica 
(Roger), one of the dominant ants occurring with P. badius 
in its native range. The swift Conomyrma workers patrol 
the vicinity of the Pogonomyrmex nests in large numbers 
during the day, and their activities apparently prevent 
the accumulation of Pogonomyrmex dead. It is not known 
whether other ant species assume this role outside the 
range of Conomyrma . 
In the laboratory most injured and dying Pogonomyrmex 
badius workers leave the nest interior before succumbing. 
These individuals are usually found wandering through 
the foraging arena, unattended by sister workers. If sim- 
ilar behavior is exhibited in nature, it can safely be in- 
ferred that the removal of corpses is thus accomplished in 
large part by the dying ants themselves, as their last act 
as living workers. Under laboratory conditions queens 
and some larger major workers remain within the nest 
while dying. Several times it was observed that the bodies 
of these individuals remained in the nest for three days, 
during which they were frequently licked and moved about 
by the workers. After that time they were removed to 
the refuse piles. 
Experiments 
Assay of decomposition products . The following experi- 
ment was designed to determine whether certain substances 
separated from the body of the corpse could by themselves 
elicit necrophoric behavior. A square of filter paper six 
