Harvesting Ants and Trap-Door Spiders: Notes and Observations on Their Habits and DwellingsMoggridge, John Traherne
Science
Harvesting Ants and Trap-Door Spiders: Notes and Observations on Their Habits and Dwellings
Moggridge, John Traherne
Ants; Trap-door spiders
(9) _Crematogaster (Myrmica) scutellaris_, Oliv.--Of medium
size (3-1/2 to 4 lines), nearly black, with yellowish red head.
Disagreeable smell like rancid oil when crushed. Erects the abdomen
when excited, and runs about with it turned up at right angles to
the body. Lives on sweet secretions, and does not carry seeds. When
dissecting the abdomen of this ant, I noticed that in freshly killed
specimens a drop of poison appears at the extremity of the sting,
which if brushed away will form again several times in succession.
Nest in the bark and wood of sick or decayed trees. (Mentone and
Cannes.)
(10) _C. sordidulus_, Mayr.--Very small (1-1/2 to 2 lines), resembles
_C. scutellaris_, but is uniformly black brown. No perceptible smell.
Lives on sweet secretions, and may frequently be seen inside flowers.
Nest in earth. Behaves like _C. scutellaris_ when excited. (Mentone
and Cannes.)
(11) _Myrmica cæspitum_, Latr.--Small (2 lines), brown. Faint smell
like peat smoke. Feeds on animal food and sweet secretions, and may
occasionally be seen collecting and carrying in seeds. Nest in the
ground. (Mentone and Cannes.)
(12) _Pheidole (Atta or Myrmica) megacephala_.--Very small (1-1/2 to
2 lines), yellow, the larger workers having enormous heads. Smell
very peculiar, and a trifle like aniseed when crushed. Appears to
be a true harvester, and not to seek for sweet secretions. Nest in
ground. (Mentone and Cannes.)
(13) _Ph. (Atta or Myrmica) pallidula_.--Very small (1-1/2 lines),
pale yellow, closely resembles _Ph. megacephala_, but is paler and
more transparent, and the larger workers have less disproportionate
heads. Smell not noted. Habits not fully observed. Nest in ground.
(Mentone.)
(14) _Atta (Aphenogaster or Myrmica) structor_.--Rather large (2 to 4
lines), of a claret brown. No smell when crushed. A true harvester,
and does not appear to seek for sweet secretions, though it will
occasionally take animal food. Nest in ground or under stones.
(Mentone and Cannes.)
(15) _Atta (Aph. or Myrmica) barbara_.--Rather large (2 to 4 lines),
jet black. No smell when crushed. Habits of _structor_. Nest in
earth, and more frequently in uncultivated ground. I have twice
seen a few ants coloured like _structor_ in colonies of _barbara_.
(Mentone, Cannes, and Marseilles.)
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