I 
12 
Its relations to the corn plant louse will be described in an¬ 
other article. 
Description —This is a rather large ant, the worker (Plate II., 
Fig. 1) being about three sixteenths of an inch in length, red¬ 
dish in color, tinted above with brownish, or even blackish, 
especially on the head and abdomen, the legs a little paler. The 
body is deeply ridged and grooved lengthwise, excepting the abdo¬ 
men, which is smooth and polished. Long hairs are scattered 
sparsely over the body. The long first joint of the antenna is bent 
nearly at right angles neav the base, arid sharply pointed on the 
outer side of the angle. The club at the end of the antenna is 
formed of three large joints. The thighs are thick, and the spurs 
at the end of the tibiae have a row of slender teeth on each side. 
There are two spines projecting backwards from the thorax. The 
males (Plate I., Fig. 2) and females (Plate I., Fig. 1) are winged, a 
little larger than the workers, and are similar in size and gen¬ 
eral appearance. The males are the darker and the more slen¬ 
der, especially as to the abdomen; the ridges on the thorax are 
also smoother, and run in various directions; and the spines on 
the thorax are very short and thick. In the wings the large cell 
adjoining the stigma is invaded from the middle of its further 
side by the stump of a vein. 
The sexes were noticed swarming September 14, 1893, after a 
rain following upon a long period' of drouth. September 21 a 
nest was found at the foot of a stalk of corn (on which were 
aerial corn lice attended by this ant), this nest containing eggs, 
larvae of several sizes, pupae, and worker ants, in a chamber 
about half an inch high and three quarters of an inch in hori¬ 
zontal diameter, placed no more than three and a half inches 
below the surface of the ground. 
2. Injuries by small beetles* which gnaw away the kernel from 
without , commonly beginning at the germ. 
Three common beetles have been detected by us and reported 
by others as engaged in a somewhat noticeable injury to seed 
corn in the earth, two of them among the most abundant of 
our Illinois insects, and the ‘third also common, but too small 
to be noticed frequently by the ordinary observer. 
Agonoderus pallipes , Fab. 
(Plate II.. Fig. 3.) 
This oblong, pale brown beetle, with a blackish cloud on the 
back, is a species of common notoriety (although it has never 
received an English name) because of its annoying abundance 
Beetles commonly have four wings, the front pair of which are usually hard, thick, 
and opaque, fitting more or less closely upon the hinder Dart of the body above, and simi¬ 
lar m appearance to the rest of the upper surface. Beneath these, and next to the body, 
may be found the membranous hind wings, generally entirely concealed except during 
flight. I he segment bearing the hind legs is fixedly attached to the hind body, but by a 
movable articulation. They also have a biting mouth furnished with two pairs of jaws. 
