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Psyche 
[December 
range from this size to individuals up to 1.6 mm long and 0.9 or 
more mm wide, but the head capsule seems to remain at or near 0.11 
mm wide throughout this series, which probably represents the first 
instar, or at most the first two instars. All but the smallest members 
of this series are very wide, due to the production of a wide, con- 
tinuous longitudinal welt along each side that binds the second and 
all succeeding abdominal segments into one large flattened mass. 
Pronotum, mesonotum, metanotum and abdomen 1 are separated off 
by distinct constrictions in oculata of this instar. 
Larger (second instar?) larvae of oculata (Fig. 1) measure about 
3.2 to 3.6 mm in length straightened out, have the first 5 or 6 abdom- 
inal segments distinctly separated by constrictions, and are more 
nearly cylindrical in cross-section; the head capsule in this stage is 
still only about 0.12 mm wide. 
According to the Wheelers, most abdominal segments of the small 
pergandei larva (L 1.6 mm straightened out) carry 8 minute tuber- 
cles each, 4 dorsal and 4 ventral, in transverse rows, but no tubercles 
of any kind could be found in the oculata larvae. All larvae of the 
genus so far found are completely hairless. 
In oculata , the largest larvae numbered only about 10, as com- 
pared to some 690 of the smaller sizes. These largest larvae do not 
seem large enough to represent the final larval instar, and no Simo- 
pelta pupae were found. Of the smaller larvae, the vast majority 
were of the broad type, which possibly represents late first instar (or 
second instar). Whether or not we have the sequence correct, it 
can be seen that this particular brood had reached a peak at the 
older small larvae, with a few individuals having attained medium 
size and the succeeding instar, plus another small number of very 
young larvae tailing off at the other end of the size distribution. The 
impression of an Eciton- like brood cycle was further heightened by 
the apparently complete lack of eggs or pupae in the nest, and by the 
contracted state of the queen in life. 
Borgmeier mentions examining 4 pupae of S. pergandei that were 
2.8 mm long and not enclosed in a cocoon. Though cocoonless 
ponerines are no longer considered a great rarity, the strong possibil- 
ity that S. pergandei , like S. oculata , raids ant nests for its livelihood 
leaves us to wonder whether the pupae may not have been those of 
a prey species. 
Distribution. So far, Simopelta has been collected only in the 
forests of the warmer parts of the mainland Americas, from Guate- 
mala in the north to Santa Catarina State, Brazil, in the south. S. 
laticeps was taken at about 2000 m in the Peruvian Andes, and two 
