1929] 
A Camponotus Mermithergate 
105 
rax, though very small, is more strongly convex and arched 
above than in either of the sterile castes. While it resembles 
the thorax of the queen, the sclerites, especially the meso- 
notum, are smaller, but this has distinct lateral sutures as in 
the queen. These sutures are absent in both major and 
minor workers, though sometimes indicated by faint lines 
in the former. There is a distinct metanotal sclerite in the 
mermithergate, of the same form as in the major (absent 
in the minor). The petiole is peculiar and apparently some- 
what deformed anteriorly, though higher and broader than 
in the minor and therefore more of the major and queen 
type. The gaster is enormously distended (nearly 4 mm. 
long) with one or possibly several Mermis, the compact coils 
of which are visible through the thin, stretched, interseg- 
mental membranes. The legs are slender, like those of the 
minor worker, but longer. 
In its coarser sculpture, i. e., in the dense punctuation of 
the head and thorax, the mermithergate resembles the 
worker major and queen rather than the minor. The same is 
true of the conspicuous elongate punctures on the occiput, 
pro- and mesonotum. These are well-developed in the mer- 
mithergate as in the major, but obsolete in the minor. In the 
queen they are less developed than in the mermithergate. 
The pilosity of the latter is also like that of the major, i. e., 
more abundant than in the minor and less abundant than in 
the queen. The head and thorax of the mermithergate are 
decidedly less reddish and more brownish than in the two 
worker castes. In coloration it is therefore more like the 
queen, which Mayr describes as “rufa, capite postice opaco 
nigro, antice obscure castaneo-fusco, mandibulis castaneis, 
antennis lsete castaneis, thorace supra subnitido castaneo, 
abdomine nitido nigro.” This agrees well with the color of 
the mermithergate, except that its head is castaneous brown 
and not black posteriorly. 
The C. minutior mermithergate above described is of 
more than usual interest on account of its close resemblance 
to the mermithized specimens of Pheidole in exhibiting a 
mixture of worker major, worker minor and queen cha- 
racters in the structure of the head, thorax, petiole and ap- 
pendages, instead of being an unmodified worker minor like 
