58 
Psyche 
[March 
petiole and postpetiole golden brown, with a narrow margining of 
darker brown ventrally on the alitrunk ; gaster brown-black, the sheen 
of the rest of the body being reduced noticeably by a fine shagreening 
over all the gaster. 
Malpighian tubules 5 (one worker dissected), the tips of the 
tubules being attached to the rectum (cryptonephric) . 
Larvae: Three larvae were reared from worker-laid eggs and were 
presumably genetically male. A profile drawing of the larva is shown 
in fig. 4, and is essentially similar to that of M. symmetochus shown 
by G. C. and J. Wheeler (3). The head and prothoracic dorsum 
bear simple, slightly curved setae of the type shown in fig. 5b. The 
remaining body segments dorsally and laterally bear deeply cleft setae 
of the type seen in fig. 5a, while ventrally on each abdominal segment 
are paired clusters of setae of mixed types: short simple; long simple; 
and long deeply bifid, as shown in fig. 5c. In their characterization of 
Megalomyrmex larvae, the Wheelers (loc. cit.) state that only simple 
setae are present — short ones on the head, long ones on the body — 
and that the ventral and lateral surfaces of the abdomen are nearly 
naked. This diagnosis is based on M. symmetochus , a member of the 
modestus species group. Further comparative study is required, but 
perhaps this setal character represents another fundamental difference 
between the two species groups. 
Disposition of Types: Holotype worker, three paratype workers (one 
dissected) and three larvae have all been deposited in the collection of 
the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Mass., under type 
number 31 139. 
References 
1. Brown, W. L. 
1953. Revisionary studies in the ant tribe Dacetini. Amer. Midi. Nat. 
50: 1-137; cf. pp. 7-15. 
2. Ettershank, G. 
1965. A generic revision of the world Myrmicinae related to Solenopsis 
and Pheidolog eton (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Bull. Mus. comp. 
Zool. Harv. (in press). 
3. Wheeler, G. C. and J. Wheeler. 
1955. The ant larvae of the myrmicine tribe Solenopsidini. Amer. 
Midi. Nat. 54: 119-141. 
