1930] 
Notes on Euponera gilva 
71 
NOTES ON EUPONERA GILVA (ROGER) 
(HYMENOPTERA, FORMICIDAE) 
By Wm. S. Creighton and George S. Tulloch 1 
In a collection of ants made by the senior author in 
Alabama during the months of May and June, 1929, there 
are many specimens of E. gilva (Roger). These are of 
interest both because of the presence of sexual forms, which 
have not been previously described, and also because of 
their bearing on the subspecies harnedi, recently described 
by M. R. Smith. The total number of specimens secured 
was about three hundred. Most of these came from one 
unusually large nest found at Point Clear, Baldwin County. 
Others were taken at Spring Hill (Mobile), and a very 
interesting nest containing five dealated females was dis- 
covered near Florence. It would appear that gilva is by 
no means as rare as was formerly supposed. Its scarcity 
in collections may be ascribed to the combination of a 
restricted type of nesting site and a southern range which 
has kept it out of the hands of collectors. It prefers to 
nest under the bark of fallen pine trees, selecting trees 
which are lying in such a position that the trunk is clear 
of the ground for at least a part of its length. The nests 
are made in the thin and rather spongy layer between the 
bark and the wood and always on the under side of the 
trunk. This insures an abundant supply of moisture, which 
is apparently indispensable to these insects. With the sin- 
gle exception noted above, all the colonies found were small. 
Many males, a single winged and somewhat callow female 
and much well-developed brood came from the Point Clear 
colony which was taken June 20. 
E. gilva was originally described by Roger in 1863. 
Emery in 1895 corrected and amplified the description and 
Contribution from the Entomological Laboratory of the Bussey 
Institution, Harvard University, No. 329. 
