14 
Indian Forest Records. 
[Vol. VT 
The ambrosia fungus does not appear to form the entire food of the 
larvae, but is supplemented to a certain extent by sap-flow from the 
intersected vessels of newly excavated tunnels. 
Transport of the Ambrosia. 
The transport of the spores of the ambrosia fungus from the old 
host-tree to the new by the migrating swarms of ambrosia beetles is a 
subject which has attracted the attention of several observers, and 
has received diverse explanations. Hubbard (1897, p. 11) pointed out 
that the ambrosia does not make its appearance by accident or at random 
in the galleries of the beetles. Its origin is entirely under control of the 
inject, who cultivates it on specially prepared beds or layers of wood- 
dust. Schneider-Orelli (1913) has shown that, in the case of Xyleborm 
dispar, the ambrosia spores are carried in the crop of the female beetle 
and subsequently regurgitated on commencing the construction of the 
new galleries. Strohmeyer (1911, pp. 104—105) found that the group 
of brushes and processes on the front of the head of the females of 
Mitosoma chapuisi and Spathidicerus thomsoni are used for the trans¬ 
port of ambrosia spores. 
In the case of the female of Diapus furtivus, it has been observed 
that the groups of brushes on the head similarly serve for this purpose. 
The writer has found small masses of vegetable cells inside the cavity 
formed by the overlapping clusters of hairs, which stain with Cotton 
Blue and are undoubtedly ambrosia cells (Plate I, figs. 4 x 20). The 
individual hairs are barbed and movement of the beetles up and down 
the galleries containing spore-bearing ambrosia would result in the 
mechanical collection of a mass of spores sufficient to start a culture 
in the new home. There is a second method of transportation of the 
ambrosia possessed by Diapus furtivus, which is also shared by a large 
number of species of Platypodidae, but does not appear to have been 
commented on previously. The large pores, situate in groups of 11 
and 24 on the prothorax of the male and the female of Diapus furtivus 
in the living insect, are filled each with a globule of colorless glistening 
matter of fatty consistency. The globule is evidently secreted by the 
numerous minute ducts situate round the margin of the pore, and is 
held in place by a transverse bristle-like process which terminates in 
slender barbs. At the period of migration the pores are very 
conspicuous. 
The secretion is sufficiently sticky to cause the liberated spores or 
spore-bearing bodies of the ambrosia fungus to adhere to the globule. 
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