1962] 
Wilson — Erebomyrma 
69 
taxonomy and ecology are too poorly known to allow further general- 
ization. Kempf (1961) records Labidus coecus (Latreille) from 
“guacharo” caves in northern Peru and Venezuela. Both collections 
were made in zones of total darkness, at 90 m. and 800 m. respectively 
from the cave mouths. As Kempf points out, L. coecus is one of the 
commonest and most adaptable army ant species and ranges, at widely 
varying elevations, from the southern United States to northern 
Argentina. Santschi (1914) records eight species collected by Ch. 
Alluaud and R. Jeannel from caves at Tanga and Shimoni, Tangan- 
yika. These can be roughly characterized as follows: Ponera dulcis 
Ford, widespread but known from only a few records; Leptogenys 
jeanneli Santschi, known only from the type collection but an unexcep- 
tional member of the epigeic falcigera group ; O dontomachus haema- 
toda L. var. troglodytes Santschi, probably the same as the very 
widespread, abundant African ‘‘haematoda” or “haematoda stanleyi” 
( Inec haematoda L. of the New World) ; Dorylus fimbriatus (Shuck- 
ard), very widespread and abundant; Monomorium rhopalocerum 
Emery subsp. speluncarum Santschi, probably equals rhopalocerum , a 
widespread and apparently relatively common species, collected at 
Shimoni only at a cave entrance; Strumigenys stygia Santschi, known 
only from the type collection but otherwise a morphologically unex- 
ceptional species of the rogeri group (see Brown, 1954) ; Mic costruma 
marginata (Santschi), known only from the type collection taken at 
cave entrance and not morphologically peculiar; Paratrechina (Nylan- 
deria) jaegerskioeldi (Mayr), very widespread and abundant. Thus 
this African cave fauna is made up of five more or less common widely 
distributed species together with three species still known only from 
the type caves. The latter exceptional group, however, belong to 
genera (Leptogenys, Strumigenys, Miccostruma) in which rare, local 
species are usual, so that no particular ecological significance can be 
attached to the fact that their known range is at present so limited. 
Cave ants do not as a group possess the usual morphological modi- 
fications found in extreme cave dwellers. For the most part, they 
show qo exceptional pigment or eye reduction when compared with 
their congeneric relatives, and, in the cases where their habits are 
kqQ\yn, they are no less epigeic in their foraging behavior. Conversely, 
t% majority of the most highly modified hypogeic and subterranean 
tropical ant taxa are unknown from caves, e.g., extreme species of 
dmblyopone, Centromyrmex , Solenopsis (Diplorhoptrum) , Trano- 
pelty, Jcropyga. We may conclude that the trogloxenes and 
trog^pphiles are characteristically generally adaptable rather than pre- 
