PSYCHE 
VOL. XXXVII 
JUNE, 1930 
No. 2 
ANT-TREE NOTES FROM RIO FRIO, COLOMBIA 
By W. M. Wheeler and P. J. Darlington, Jr. 
The observations recorded in the following pages on the 
various insects inhabiting Triplaris, Cecropia and Acacia 
trees in the vicinity of Rio Frio, Colombia, were made by 
the junior author during 1928-’29. The only contribution 
of the senior author is the identification of the ants which 
regularly inhabit the trunks and twigs of Triplaris and 
Cecropia and the large thorns of Acacia, and some data 
secured in 1927- , 28 in the same locality by Dr. George Salt. 
It has been impossible to obtain accurate specific identifi- 
cations of the plants, because they were not in bloom when 
the observations were made. 
I. Triplaris and its Inhabitants 
Two forms of this tree were found, one (Plate 1, lower 
fig.) with narrow, lanceolate leaves and apparently the 
same as the T. americana Linne which has been studied by 
the senior author in Panama, the other (Plate 1, upper 
fig.) with broader, more ovate leaves and perhaps merely 
a variety of the preceding. The narrow-leaved form is a 
small, straight, slender tree somewhat resembling a 
hickory in general appearance. Near Rio Frio it is rather 
closely restricted to the edges of brooks in and near the 
foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. It usually 
grows so close to the brook that it can get water during 
the dry season, for it is one of the few trees of the lower 
foothills which is not deciduous. No specimens of it were 
seen above 1500 feet. 
