1954] Creighton and Gregg — Cryptocerus texanus 53 
jelly. Bananas were accepted by some colonies but rejected 
by others. The most generally acceptable food seemed to 
be maple syrup. This suggests that the insects may pos- 
sibly feed on the sap of the trees in which they live. If 
this is the case it is probable that such a diet is augmented 
by other food, for the workers of texanus forage on the 
surface of the ground, which they would scarcely do if the 
diet was entirely confined to sap. Whatever the natural 
food of texanus may be it seems certain that it is not 
sticky. Both writers found that it was inadvisable to leave 
sticky food in the nest for any length of time, since a num- 
ber of minors were certain to get caught in it. The other 
workers make no effort to free their trapped nestmates, 
who ultimately die. 
To judge from the captive colonies these ants are very 
sluggish in their nests. They often pack themselves to- 
gether in a nest chamber or passage and remain immobile 
for hours. If disturbed both majors and minors may open 
their mandibles and keep them open. This is a preliminary 
to an attack on any intruder. When living termites were 
placed in the captive nests they were immediately attacked 
by both majors and minors. The attack was made with the 
open jaws of the attackers held close to the floor of the 
nest. As a result the termites suffered very little dam- 
age to any parts except their legs. These were rapidly cut 
off, but once the termites had been immobilized no further 
attention was paid to them. 
The female of texanus lays a comparatively large egg 
and has considerable difficulty in doing so. The egg, which 
is from 1.3 to 1.5 mm. in length and about 0.5 mm. in 
diameter, is cylindrical with rounded ends. The senior 
author twice observed the process of egg-laying in this 
species. In both cases the egg was about one-quarter of 
its length out of the end of the gaster when first observed. 
Its extrusion was not a continuous process but proceeded 
by a series of slight motions which occurred at intervals. 
The entire process consumed about ten minutes. On one 
occasion the partially extruded egg was seized by a worker 
who pulled on it with sufficient force to haul the female 
backward without, however, releasing the egg from the 
gaster. Since only two instances of egg-laying were ob- 
