1929 ] 
Notes on Gesomyrmex 
91 
NOTE ON GESOMYRMEX 
By William Morton Wheeler 
Since the manuscript of my paper on the interesting, 
Javanese ant, Gesomyrmex kalshoveni, was sent to the 
printer, Dr. Kalshoven has kindly sent me the remainder of 
the colony which contained the type specimens, together 
with a note on the precise situation of the nest. He writes : 
“The new Gesomyrmex was found in a branch of an Arto- 
caryus elastica (“bendo”) in a stand of various deciduous 
trees — relics of the old natural mixed forest — amidst the 
teak-forests of Semarang.” This statement confirms my 
supposition in regard to the habits of Gesomyrmex, which 
evidently lives much like many twig — or branch — inhabit- 
ing Camponoti of the subgenera Myrmentoma, Colobopsis, 
Pseudocolobopsis, Hypercolobopsis, Myrmocladoecus and 
Myrmobrachys. That the specimens collected by Dr. Kals- 
hoven were living in a piece of primitive forest is of some 
interest in connection with the fact that the extant species 
of Gesomyrmex are sporadic survivors, or relicts of an 
ancient ant-fauna of much wider distribution during the 
Oligocene Tertiary. 
The second lot of specimens from Dr. Kalshoven com- 
prises in addition to 13 workers (one maxima, five mediae 
and seven minimae), which show the same range of poly- 
morphism as described and figured for the first lot, also 
one male semipupa and two female pupae. The male semi- 
pupa reveals nothing new, but the two female pupae are 
interesting. They are approaching maturity since their 
eyes and mandibular teeth show the beginnings of pigment- 
ation. Both are naked, i.e. not enclosed in cocoons, and 
measure about 10 mm. They closely resemble the female of 
G. luzonensis Wheeler from the Philippines, but have dis- 
tinctly smaller eyes and a much shorter petiole, with less 
iSee Psyche, vol. 36, p. 1 (1929) 
