. Ants; their structure, development and behavior. in y r in c .rdiscigera. This is a mat-ter, however, to be settledby the mycologist, and Imerely call attention to itin this connection, be-cause Moellers somewhatguarded statements haveassumed an unduly positive form in subsequent reviews of his species of Apterostigma investigated by Moeller usually nest incavities in rotten wood which is often also inhabited by other fine wood castings and excrement of these insects are used by theants as material with which to construct their fungus-gardens. A.\<isinunni constructs
. Ants; their structure, development and behavior. in y r in c .rdiscigera. This is a mat-ter, however, to be settledby the mycologist, and Imerely call attention to itin this connection, be-cause Moellers somewhatguarded statements haveassumed an unduly positive form in subsequent reviews of his species of Apterostigma investigated by Moeller usually nest incavities in rotten wood which is often also inhabited by other fine wood castings and excrement of these insects are used by theants as material with which to construct their fungus-gardens. A.\<isinunni constructs the largest nests, and it is onlv in the gardens of O •/ this species that the mycelium produces structures analogous to thekohlrabi heads and clusters of The heads,however, are club-shaped instead of spherical dilations of the gardens of pilosiun, moclleri and of another undeterminedApterostigma. which live in feeble colonies of only twelve to twentyindividuals, are suspended from the roofs of the small cavities, 3 to 4. j/ -,£u FIG. 196. Diagram of a large nest of asouthern variety of Trachymyrmex septentrio-nalis, showing near the surface the small originalchamber of the queen, five chambers with pen-dent fungus gardens, and a newly excavatedchamber in which the garden has not yet beenstarted. (Original.) THE FUNGUS-GROWING ANTS. 329 cm. in diameter, in the rotten wood and exhibit a peculiar structure notseen in other Attii. The garden is often completely, or at least nearlyalways in great part, enclosed in a white cohweb-like membrane. Itwas often possible to obtain a view of uninjured nests of A. pilosumthat had been excavated in clefts of the rotten wood. In such casesthe envelope enclosed the whole fungus gar-den like a bag, with only a single orifice orentrance. The envelope is attached in apendent position to the surrounding wood,roots or particles of earth by means ofradiating fibers, and this explains why thegardens are so easily torn as
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectants, bookyear1910
