1965] 
Broiun — Typhlomyr/necini 
69 
Larva: (After G. C. and J. Wheeler, 1952 (rogenhoferi — 
robustus) and 1964 (pusillus). Thorax moderately stout and bent 
ventrally; slightly constricted at first abdominal somite; remainder 
of abdomen stout and ovoidal. Body densely covered with moderate- 
sized branching (mostly trifid) hairs; head with a few bifid hairs. 
Mandible distinctive, composed of a strongly inflated basal 2/5 and 
a very narrow, acute apical 3/5, the latter with 2 small median teeth 
in addition to the apical. This mandible is somewhat like those of 
amblyoponine larvae, except that the basal portion is relatively much 
wider than in Amblyopone. 
Distribution and biology: So far as known, Typhlomyrmex is 
restricted to the warmer parts of the Americas, from southern Mexico 
to northern Argentina. Within this region, T. rogenhoferi is the most 
widespread and by far the most often-collected species, being an in- 
habitant of rotten logs in forest. This species is common in the 
Amazon Basin, where I have seen nests of several hundred workers 
moving in file through the rot zone just beneath the bark of a log. I 
have examined several such aggregations in the field, but I was not 
able to find definite indications of the prey of these undoubtedly 
predaceous ants. In some sites in the Amazon Basin, where rogen- 
hoferi is moderately common, I found the species in very close prox- 
imity to termite colonies, but I never saw it actually taking or feeding 
upon a termite. 
T. pusillus appears to be a soil dweller in cultivated and pampas 
areas as well as in forest (Kempf, 1961). It also seems to exist at 
higher elevations (e. g., in a coffee plantation at Venecia, near Me- 
dellin, Colombia). Probably it is strongly subterranean in foraging 
and nesting habits. The small series taken by P. F. Darlington at 
the mouth of the Amazon came from a rotten root in rain forest soil. 
The remainder of the species are rare, and nothing is known of their 
biology. Probably their habits are strongly cryptic; the large pro- 
portion known from alate males and females indicates that most 
samples are taken during or after nuptial flight. T. major may be 
restricted to the south of Brazil and neighboring countries, while T. 
clavicornis is widespread in South America. T. prolatus is known 
only from the unique type, a female from Costa Rica. 
Synonymic synopsis of Typhlomyrmex species 
Typhlomyrmex clavicornis (Figures 4, 5, 7) 
Typhlomyrmex clavicornis Emery, 1905, Bull. Soc. ent. Ital., 37: 112, nota, 
alate female. Type locality: Mapiri, Bolivia. Holotype examined in 
Coll. Emery, Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, Genoa. 
Typhlomyrmex clavicornis var. divergens Forel, 1906, Ann. Soc. ent. Belg., 
