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Psyche 
[Vol. 95 
turned laterally (instead of medially as is usual with ant larvae); 
feebly sclerotized; with a long slender sharp-pointed apical tooth, 
which curves laterally; outer border furnished with several long 
slender sharp-pointed teeth; anterior surface with spinules in rows. 
Labium thin, flap-like and narrowed basally; each palp a ventro- 
lateral cluster of five sensilla. 
The larvae of Leptanilla are unique among the 200 known genera 
of ant larvae in 3 characters: The prothoracic projection, the hemo- 
lymph feeding pores and the mandibles. The most significant of the 
3 is the hemolymph feeding pores. We considered them to be spira- 
cles, because we could not find any structures that resembled spira- 
cles. One reason why is now apparent: the spiracles of L. japonica 
are of the same diameter as the base of a minute hair. Therefore 
even if we had seen a spiracle we would have considered it as the 
base of a broken-off hair. Another reason: no one had ever studied a 
live colony of Leptanilla. The solution of the problem is Masuko’s 
discovery of “larval hemolymph feeding (LHF)”: — 
Whenever the queen froze at the 4th abdominal segment, her 
mouthparts were placed near the posterior border on a side. “In this 
region a pair of strange structures is present. [Each] is externally a 
naked circular area bordered by a fringe of stiff hairs. ... In the 
center of this area, a slit-like opening is located. . . . Histological 
sections were made [of] this region, revealing that this opening is 
internally attached to a short duct. . . . This duct is strongly bent 
and opens directly into the larval body cavity.” 
“Since oral trophallaxis is totally absent in the species, LHF is the 
only way of obtaining nutrients by the queens. [The queens never 
feed on prey.] . . . L. japonica workers ordinarily performed LHF 
even close to the queens, in addition to the prey feeding.” 
Leptanilla japonica Baroni-Urbani 
Length (through spiracles) 1. 2-1.7 mm. Elongate and very 
slender; slightly contricted at the metathorax; remainder of body 
straight and clavate. Anus posterior. With a peculiar complex struc- 
ture on the anteroventral surface of the prothorax. Spiracles minute 
(sometimes vestigial or absent) on T2, T3 and AI-AVIII. On AIV 
there is a pair of “hemolymph feeding pores” (Masuko, in prepara- 
tion). Integument of naked anterior portion of T1 with ridges and 
spinules; posterior portion with hairs similar to those on remainder 
