10 
Report of the State Entomologist of Illinois, published in 1884 
(p. 112). It is, however, probable that a reference under the 
same name made in 1889 by Mr. F. M. Webster* to injuries to 
corn by ants in Indiana should really be applied to this species. 
Mavr reports the species from the District of Columbia, New 
Jersey, and Virginia, under stones and in a stump under ground, 
and from Texas and New York. Winged males and females ap¬ 
pear in July and August. 
It was first found by us June 1-12, 1883, at Normal, Illinois, 
abundant in many fields of corn, both new and old, and after¬ 
wards May 14-24, 1886, infesting seed corn in the fields at 
Champaign. In the corn field these ants were usually collected 
about the kernels in the earth, and frequently more or less 
hidden in little cavities excavated in the softened grain. May 
19, 1887, they were very abundant in a field of corn on sod in 
Champaign county, eating out the planted kernels. In autumn 
the same species has been detected by us indulging a similar 
appetite, but in a way to do no harm. September 11-21, 1893, 
it was found feeding on and within kernels of corn at the tips 
of ears, which had evidently been injured previously by crickets 
and grasshoppers. The solid substance of the grain is not act¬ 
ually eaten bv these ants,—a fact which I demonstrated by dis¬ 
section of the ants—but it is simply gnawed away, doubtless 
for the sake of the sweetish and oily fluids of the softened ker¬ 
nels. If plants start from seeds thus injured, they are shorter 
than others adjacent, and have a stunted, weak appearance. 
This species has also been several times noticed by us in Sep¬ 
tember in attendance upon the root louse of corn, Aphis maidi- 
radicis, sharing with two other species of ants the cares and 
benefits of this association. It occurs more frequently, accord¬ 
ing to our observations, at this season of the year, with the 
corn root lice infesting purslane than with those upon the corn 
itself. 
Description .—This species of ant, and also the one following, 
belong to the family Myrmicidae, in which there are two nodes 
or thickened joints in the peduncle of the abdomen instead of a 
single node or scale-like joint, as in the large family of Formi- 
cidae. Solenopsis is readily distinguishable by its peculiar 
antennm, terminating, except in the male, in an enlarged club 
consisting of but two joints, the outer greatly elongate. 
The worker, which is the commonest form, is very small, about 
1.5 to 1.8 mm. in length, yellow or brownish yellow, the mar¬ 
gins of the abdominal segments paler. The antennae are ten- 
jointed, and between them are two longitudinal carinae which 
end in front in two small teeth. The metathorax is not armed 
with spines behind. The second joint of the peduncle of the 
abdomen is distinctly broader than the node of the first, and 
also much broader in front than behind. 
* “Insect Life,” Vol. II., p. 257. 
