. The Biological bulletin. Biology; Zoology; Marine biology. i88 WILLIAM MORTON WHEELER. water from the surrounding moat, moistened a full pint of the earth, built therein a proper nest, and were busy depositing their larvae in its recesses when I saw them on the following ; Miss Fielde assures me that she has repeatedly observed this in- teresting occurrence, especially when the ants had larvae or pupae, to which contact with perfectly dry earth would, of course, soon be fatal. There is, therefore, nothing extravagant about the view that desert ants, living in very dry soil, migh
. The Biological bulletin. Biology; Zoology; Marine biology. i88 WILLIAM MORTON WHEELER. water from the surrounding moat, moistened a full pint of the earth, built therein a proper nest, and were busy depositing their larvae in its recesses when I saw them on the following ; Miss Fielde assures me that she has repeatedly observed this in- teresting occurrence, especially when the ants had larvae or pupae, to which contact with perfectly dry earth would, of course, soon be fatal. There is, therefore, nothing extravagant about the view that desert ants, living in very dry soil, might carry water in the macrochaetal crate instead of in the crop or hypo- pharyngeal pocket. In order to ascertain, if possible, the true state of affairs from the ants themselves, I requested Miss Augusta Rucker to send. FlG. I. Pogonomyrmcx borbmus F. Sm. me a number of living workers of the Texan harvester (Pogono- myrmex barbatus F. Smith var. molefaciens Buckley), a species with well-developed circumoral macrochsetae. The study of these insects in an artificial nest soon convinced me that my hy- pothesis, at least so far as this form is concerned, was erroneous. Though the ants were kept for several days without water and then given the liquid in small drops on the floor of their nest in imitation of the drops left by a shower on the stones and plants around the nests in their native environment, they were never seen to take it up into the macrochaetal crate but simply lapped it up with their tongues. Protracted observation also proved that these ants never feed one another by regurgitation but that each worker partakes individually of the seeds, sugar, insects,. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Lillie, Frank Rattray, 1870-1947; Moore, Carl Richard, 1892-; Redfield, Alfred Clarence, 1890-;
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectb, booksubjectzoology
