72 
Psyche 
[June 
with a single, rather irregular entrance about one-half an 
inch in diameter. From this entrance excavated soil was 
scattered in an obscure fan down the slope. In one instance 
there was a low crater of excavated soil about six inches 
in diameter spread around the entrance. But the construc- 
tion of a crater seems to be exceptional for this species. 
The population of a nest of huachucanus is comparatively 
small. As a rule there are less than two hundred workers 
in a colony. The colonies frequently have two or more 
queens present but this seems to have little effect on their 
size. One nest, which was secured entire, had only one 
hundred and seventy workers present although it contained 
two females. Occasionally one encounters an especially 
large nest in which four or five hundred workers may be 
present, but there would seem to be little doubt that such 
a number is exceptional. 
P. huachucanus is not a conspicuously aggressive ant, but 
it will defend its nest vigorously if disturbed. It has no 
hesitation about using its sting, but the effect of the sting 
is remarkably slight, at least to the writer. I have often 
been stung by half a dozen workers at once, with no results 
other than a slight twinge as the stings entered. The per- 
sistent and distressing after-effects which often accompany 
the stings of many species of Pogonomyrmex seem entirely 
absent in the case of huachucanus. 
The marriage flight of P. huachucanus takes place in the 
latter part of July or the first weeks of August. Although 
the writer has never seen the marriage flight of this species 
in progress, there is evidence which makes the above state- 
ment valid. Mature males were taken from a nest near 
Socorro, N. M., on July 31st and others from two nests in 
Carr Canyon, Huachuca Mountains, Arizona, on August 5th. 
A large nest found near Springerville, Arizona, on July 30th 
contained not only many males but an equally large number 
of dealate females. There were far too many of the latter 
to suppose that they all represented functional females be- 
longing to the nest. As it had rained heavily an hour or two 
before the nest was discovered, it seems likely that the 
storm had interrupted a marriage flight and that the 
dealated females had taken temporary shelter in the nest. 
It is safe to conclude, therefore, that the marriage flight of 
