SUPPLEMENTARY STUDIES ON ANT 
LARVAE: TERATOMYRMEX 1 
By George C. Wheeler and Jeanette Wheeler 
Laboratory of Desert Biology 
Desert Research Institute 
University of Nevada System 
Reno 89507 
The first collector of this Australian genus, T. Greaves, Esq. (in 
1942), must have been surprised when he first viewed his specimens 
under magnification ; he probably thought he had collected diseased 
ants. The describer (J. J. McAreavey 1957) was evidently some- 
what astonished for he gave it the name T eratomyrmex , from the 
Greek teras ( teratos ) monster, marvel, wonder + myrinex ant. 
We have in English teratism the worship of monsters, teratology 
the study of monstrosities and teratoma a tumor derived from more 
than one embryonic layer and made up of a mixture of tissues. 
T eratomyrmex is certainly an appropriate name, for the worker 
looks as if it has a huge tumor on the top of its thorax (see Fig. 7 
and 8). Aside from this unique peculiarity the genus is quite ordi- 
nary and belongs in the Formicini, an ordinary tribe of Formicinae, 
which includes such anatomically commonplace genera as Acantho- 
myops, Lasius and Formica. 
The first specimens of T eratomyrmex we have seen were a gift 
from Rev. B. B. Lowery (of Norwood, South Australia) in 1967. 
In the accompanying letter he wrote: “I have also taken the liberty 
of filling up the vacant spaces in the box with a few specially chosen 
mountings for your collection. Make sure you have a look at the 
T eratomyrmex and Epopostruma frosti under the microscope. Both 
these species, by the way, are very rare.” In a later note he wrote: 
“The species [T. greavesi] appears to be rare in the ranges near 
Murwillumbah NE. NSW. Forages on low shrubs and in leaf litter. 
Nests in very moist places, usually in white-rotten timber. It is 
very easily mistaken for a small black Iridomyrmex.” He also in- 
cluded a quotation from a personal communication he had received 
from Tom Greaves: “ ‘T. greavesi is a dominant ant in residual 
forest,’ i.e., in the Jackall Ranges, about 75 miles north of Brisbane.” 
^ymenoptera : Formicidae: Formicinae. 
Manuscript received by the editor December 10, 1973 
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