THE HABITS AND DISTRIBUTION OF 
CRYPTOCERUS ROHWERI WHEELER 
(HYMENOPTERA: FOR MI Cl DAE) 
By 
William S. Creighton, City College, New York 1 
AND 
William L. Nutting, University of Arizona 2 
When W. M. Wheeler described Cryptocerus rohweri in 1916 he 
stated that the specimens which Rohwer sent him had been taken by 
Chrisman in a canyon of the Santa Catalina Mountains of Arizona 
and that they had been nesting in the dead limbs of a palo verde 
tree ( 1 ) . There was no reason for Wheeler to question that the 
host tree was Cercidium torreyanum , but this question has since 
arisen and it is advisable to consider it here. The host plant identifi- 
cation appears to have been made from the dead limb sent in with 
the ants. Chrisman’s field notes stated only that his specimens were 
nesting in “palo verde”, which would cover either of the two species 
of Cercidium in the Santa Catalina area. But in this area C. torrey- 
anum is scarce and it usually occurs at elevations below those where 
rohweri has been taken. The abundant and widespread species is C. 
microphyllum and all seven colonies of rohweri which we took in the 
Santa Catalinas were nesting in this tree. The probability is that 
Table 1 . Distributional Data for Cryptocerus rohvoeri Wheeler 
STATION 
ELEVATION 
NESTS 
NEST SITE 
COLLECTOR 
STA. CATALINA MTS. 
Buehman Canyon 
_ 
1 
palo verde 
M. Chrisman 
Brush Corrals 
3700' 
1 
palo verde 
M. Chrisman 
Sabino Canyon 
3000' 
2 
hackberry 
E. D. Algert 
Sabino Canyon 
— 
1 
not given 
W. D. Edmonton 
Catalina Springs 
— 
1 
not given 
Hubbard & Schwarz 
Catalina Foothills 
2800' 
1 
palo verde 
Wm. L. Nutting 
Catalina Foothills 
2800' 
6 
palo verde 
Wm. S. Creighton 
Saguaro Nat. Mon. 
3100' 
strays 
unknown 
F. G. Werner 
BABOQUIVARI MTS. 
Baboquivari Canyon 
3500' 
1 
mesquite 
Wm. S. Creighton 
Baboquivari Canyon 
3500' 
1 
mesquite 
C. H. Musgrove 
A JO MOUNTAINS 
Alamo Canyon 

stray 
unknown 
E. D. Ball 
ATASCOSA MTS. 
Pena Blanca Sprs. 
3700' 
1 
live oak 
Wm. S. Creighton 
Tmeritus Professor, Department of Biology, 
department of Entomology, College of Agriculture. 
Manuscript received by the editor December 28, 1964. 
59 
