THE HABITS AND DISTRIBUTION OF 
MACROMISCHA SUBDITIVA WHEELER 
(HYMENOPTERA: FORMICIDAE) 
By William S. Creighton ' 1 
Department of Biology, City College New York 
Before discussing Macromischa subditiva I wish to review some 
older observations on the habits of this beautiful genus. The nests 
of Macromischa are seldom easy to find. The one exception to this 
rule appears to be M. sallei Guerin, whose abundant and conspicious 
carton nests, built around the twigs of bushes, are certain to attract 
attention. It thus happens that M. sallei is the only species in the 
genus for which adequate field data exist. In 1913 W. M. Mann 
studied hundreds of nests of sallei in Haiti (1). The uniformity 
of these nests was remarkable; they were invariably constructed of 
carton and invariably suspended from the branches of bushes or 
small trees. While Salle’s San Domingan nests had come from bushes 
growing on marshy plains (2) the Haitian nests occurred on rocky, 
well-drained ridges, hence there was no reason to suppose that the 
latter nests had been placed in bushes to avoid water-soaked soil. In 
short, the nesting habits of M. sallei appeared to be not only arboreal 
but also those of a non-adaptable arboreal. 
This circumstance strongly influenced W. M. Wheeler in the 
nidification list which he published in his 1931 study of Macro- 
mischa (3). At that time Wheeler had nesting data for 28 species 
of Macromischa and he knew that there is a wide range of nesting 
response within the genus. His list carries eight nesting categories 
and, while some of these are rather similar, the range extends from 
strictly arboreal to strictly terrestrial species. This list is invaluable 
to anyone who is studying Macromischa in the field and, since 
Wheeler was trying to show no more than the variable nesting habits 
of different species of Macromischa, he amply accomplished his pur- 
pose. The objectionable feature of the nidification list is its failure 
to give the number of nests on which the inclusions are made. To 
secure this information it is necessary to consult the authorities 
whose names are carried after the names of the species whose nests 
they observed. When this is done it is clear that 17 of the 28 
species listed were known from a single nest and hence could appear 
Tmeritus Professor, Department of Biology, City College. 
Manuscript received by the editor October 3, 1965 
282 
