1965] 
Creighton and Nutting — Cryptocerus 
63 
interested in Aphis fabi> a species that is abundant on Mesembryan- 
themum at Riverside. The ants tried to milk the aphids but the 
latter, who were clearly afraid of the rohweri workers, failed to 
cooperate. They would usually run away from the ants, which 
resulted in some of them being 1 killed when the ants tried to catch 
them. Much better results were secured with Aphis sphaericola. This 
aphis produces such large quantities of honey dew that it will drip 
from the leaves on which the aphids are feeding. When leaves of 
Viburnum suspensum bearing Aphis sphaericola and coated with its 
honey dew were placed in the aquaria the foraging ants gorged 
themselves until their intersegmental gastric membranes were visible. 
This they did by lapping the honey dew from the surface of the 
leaves. The ants paid little attention to the aphids and made no 
attempt to milk them. 
Since the colonies were well-supplied with food a number of eggs 
were soon present. When the major or female handles an egg it is 
positioned so that its long axis runs through the notch in the anterior 
edge of the cephalic disc. The larger eggs fit the rim of this notch 
closely when so positioned. Most of the eggs hatched in about 27 
days. The voiding of the larval meconium was observed three times 
and took between 60 and 75 minutes. The movement of the black 
meconium, both within the larva and during its emergence is so slow 
that it is difficult to follow. Infrequent contractions of the posterior 
half of the larva probably reflect peristaltic movements of the gut 
within. Once outside the larva the meconium invariably attracted 
workers, both majors and minors, although they were never observed 
to assist the larva in any way. It was only after the meconium was 
presented that the larva was groomed. On one occasion the meconium 
was eaten by the attendant worker. On the other two it was carried 
to the dump in the feeding chamber. The period between the passing 
of the meconium and pupation was from six to ten days. The pupal 
moult was never observed. New pupae are ivory white and the first 
suggestions of pigmentation appear in the compound eyes. The color 
of the pupa darkens from yellow ochre to brown during the second 
and third weeks. There is a four- or five- day callow period after the 
adult emerges. In the senior author’s colonies worker brood developed 
from egg to adult in about three months (egg to larva ±27 days; 
larva to pupa ± 33 days; pupa to adult ± 23 days). The nests were 
kept at room temperature and the range, for the most part, lay 
between 6o°F and 70°F. Since the temperature range to which a 
free colony is subjected is far wider, these figures are useful only as an 
indication of the relative length of the several stages. Moreover, the 
