Cambridge Entomological Club, 1874
PSYCHE

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A. H. Sturtevant.
Ants Collected on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
Psyche 38(2-3):73-79, 1931.

This article at Hindawi Publishing: https://doi.org/10.1155/1931/94654
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PSYCHE
VOL. XXXVIII JUNE - SEPTEMBER, 1931 NOS. 2 - 3 ANTS COLLECTED ON CAPE COD, MASSACHUSETTS California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California The list below represents the results of collections made each summer from 1925 to 1930 inclusive. Ants have been recorded from Cape Cod by Wheeler (1906, 1910, 1913) ; these records have not been reproduced in the present list except where they represent localities or forms not included in my own collections.
All available records are included, even for the com- moner ants, with the result that a rough estimate of the frequency of a species on the Cape may be made by noting the number of localities from which it has been taken. The
dates given represent the extremes between which winged queens or males have been collected.
Dates in parentheses
are from neighboring portions of eastern Massachusetts when these extend the limits found for Cape Cod. The list as given cannot be supposed to represent the entire fauna of the region. Three forms in particular were expected and carefully searched for, without success- Lasius aphidicola, L. interjectus, and Camponotus caryas. They are certainly either absent or much less common than in neighboring portions of the mainland. Other forms that may be expected are Pheidole pilifera (recorded by Wheeler from Naushon) and Tetramorium cespitum (which I have taken at Rochester, only a few miles from the Cape). Cape Cod apparently represents the northern limit, or very nearly so, for the range of several ants : Monomorium minimum, Aphaenogaster treats, Leptothorax davisi, Pren- Ps~che 38:73-79 (193 1). hup //psyche enlclub orgtlW38-071 html



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74 Psyche [ June-September
olepis parvula, and Formica difficilis. Lask neoniger, Formica argentea, F. subsenescens, and Camponotus nove- boracensis here approach their southern limits at low ele- vations in the eastern states.
This list may be compared profitably with Wheeler's lists for New England (1906), Nantucket (1928a), and Penikese (1926), and with Davis and Bequaert's list for Long Island and Staten Island (1922).
1. Stigmatomma pallipes Haldeman. East Falmouth Waquoit, Mashpee. (Naushon, August 31). This species is usually found in the beech-holly association that occurs sporadically in eastern Massachusetts.
2. Ponera coarctata pennsylvanica Buckley. East Fal- mouth, Brewster. Woods Hole (Wheeler 1906). Much less common than in the New York region.
3. Monomorium minimzlm Buckley. Woods Hole, Wa- quoit, Pocasset, South Yarmouth, North Eastham, South Wellfleet, Truro. July 15 (mating flight). Common in sand; also nests on the mounds of Formica exsectoides. I have found it only in the latter situation in northern New Jersey.
4. Solenopsis molesta Say. Woods Hole, West Fal- mouth, Sandwich.
5. Crematogaster lineolata Say. Woods Hole, Falmouth, East Falmouth, Pocasset, Sandwich, Hyannis, South Har- wich, South Chatham, Brewster, South Orleans, Truro. July 24-August 29 (Rochester, July 22).
6. Myrmecina graminicola americana brevispinosa Emery. Woods Hole. Two specimens, under fallen leaves. 7. Aphaenogaster treat8 Forel. Woods Hole, Brewster. Darker colored than specimens from Mississippi. 8. A. fulva aquia Buckley. Woods Hole, East Falmouth, Waquoit. Pocasset. August 6-18.
9. A. fulva aquia picea Emery. Woods Hole, East Fal- mouth, Waquoit, Brewster, Provincetown. July 15-Sep- tember 8.




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19311 Cape Cod Ants 75
10. Myrmica punctiventris Roger. Woods Hole, East Falmouth, Waquoit, Mashpee. September 7-13. (Fairhaven, August 13). Mating flight. September 13. Common in old nuts and galls and under fallen leaves.
11. M. Is~vinodis brziesi Wheeler. Woods Hole. July 29-August 28.
This form was described from specimens
taken in the woods adjoining the Fay Rose Gardens. It is now the dominant ant in these woods. but I have been unable to find a single specimen in any other place. The numerous nests seem to represent branches of a single family, since transfers of workers never lead to fighting- in spite of the fact that the species is very pugnacious and has the most painful sting of any ant I have encountered in the northeastern states.
12. M. scabrinodis sabuleti Meinert. Woods Hole, Fal- mouth, Falmouth Heights, East Falmouth, Pocasset, Truro. August 14-September 6.
13. M. scabrinodis schencki emeryana Forel. Woods Hole, Sandwich, South Harwich, Chatham.
14. Harpagoxenus arnericanus Emery. Woods Hole, West Falrnouth, Sandwich. July 12-August 14. Sexual pup= still present August 14.
Found with Leptothorax
curvispinosus and with L. longispinosus. I have taken this at three other unrecorded localities-Mendham, New Jersey; Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, New York ; Fair- haven, Massachusetts.
15. Leptothorax longispinosus Roger. Woods Hole, East Falmouth, Sandwich, Mashpee.
16. L. curvispinosus Mayr. Woods Hole, Falmouth, West Falmouth, Waquoit, Mashpee, Provincetown. August
1-7. Sexual pupae present, July 4-August 7. Common in old acorns, nuts and hollow twigs.
17. L. curvispinosus ambiguus Emery. Woods Hole, Falmouth.
18. L. texanm davisi Wheeler. South Wellfleet. One nest, in white sand.




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76 Psyche 1 June-September
19. Dolichoderus plagiatzis Mayr. Waquoit. 20. D. plagiatus inornatus Wheeler. Chatham. 21. Tapinoma sessile Say. Woods Hole, Falmouth, East Falmouth, Pocasset, Sandwich, Cotuit.
22. Brachymyrmex heeri depilis Emery. Woods Hole, South Orleans. August 22-23.
23. Prenolepis imparts Say. Woods Hole, Falmouth, East Falmouth, Waquoit. August 17. This form is appar- ently common, but is not easily found in mid-summer- as is also true in the New York region.
24. P. parvula Mayr. East Falmouth, Pocasset, South Wellfleet. August 29. This species is easily overlooked and may be commoner than is indicated.
25. Lasius niger neoniger Emery. Woods Hole, Fal- mouth, Falmouth Heights, Chatham, Truro. July 24-Sep- tember 3. This form is not clearly distinct from ameri- canus in this region. I have identified all the intermediates as americanus; I am inclined to suspect that the extreme hairy specimens listed here are not really distinct from the paler form of americanus referred to below. 26. L. niger alienus americanus Emery. Woods Hole, Falmouth, Falmouth Heights, West Falmouth, East Fal- mouth, Pocasset, Sandwich, Hyannis, South Yarmouth, South Chatham, Chatham, Brewster, North Eastham, South Wellfleet. July 11-September 30. There appear to be two distinct forms here-a darker form typically nest- ing in stumps and logs in the woods, not found infested with Mermithids; and a paler form typically nesting in the soil in sunny places (often on the beaches down to high-tide level), frequently producing short-winged mermi- thogynes (see Wheeler 1928). In the absence of adequate series from the Palsearctic region and from the western states, I am unable to make a thorough revision of the forms of niger-without which it seems to me undesirable to describe and name these types.




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19311 Cape Cod Ants 77
27. L. brevicornis Emery. Woods Hole, West Fal- mouth. August 19-September 30. I have once found mermithogynes in this species (see Wheeler 1928). 28. L. flaws nearcticus Wheeler. Woods Hole, Wa- quoit, Sandwich, Cotuit.
August 13-September 8.
29. L. latipes Walsh. Woods Hole, Falmouth, Mash- pee. Hyannisport (Wheeler). August 12-September 8. (Rochester, July 22.) Both the A and the B type of fe- males occur on Cape Cod.
30. L. claviger Roger. Woods Hole, Falmouth Heights, Pocasset, Mashpee, South Chatham, Chatham. August 22-26.
31. Formica sanguinea rubicunda Emery. Cotuit. Woods Hole (Wheeler). (Rochester, July 22.) The only nest I have found on Cape Cod had F. subaenescens slaves. 32. F. sanguinea subintegra Emery. Woods Hole, West Falmouth, Waquoit, Mashpee. August 17-19. I have observed raids on August 6, and (on Naushon) August 25. Two colonies moving to new nest-sites were observed, Au- gust 12 and 15. All the slaves observed on Cape Cod have been F. subsericea.
33. F. exsectoides Forel. Woods Hole, Falmouth, East Falmouth, Waquoit, Mashpee, Chatham. August 22. 34. F. difficilis Emery. Hyannis.
35. F. difficilis consocians Wheeler. West Falmouth. Woods Hole (Wheeler). July 18. The one nest that I have found on Cape Cod contained numerous larvae of Microdon.
36. F. truncicola Integra Nylander. East Falmouth, Mashpee, South Harwich. August 6.
37. F. truncicola obscuriventris Mayr. Woods Hole, Pocasset. August 2. (Fairhaven, May 28.) 38. F. fusca argentea Wheeler. Woods Hole, Falmouth, Falmouth Heights, West Falmouth, Sandwich, Chatham,



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78 Psyche 1 June-September
Truro. Cotuit (Wheeler). July 24. This form is common on the beaches and sand-dunes. I have taken it at Guil- ford, Connecticut, but it has not been found on Long Island.
39. F. fusca subsenescens Emery. Mashpee, Cotuit. (Fairhaven, August 13.)
40. F. fusca subsericea Say. Woods Hole, Falmouth, West Falmouth, East Falmouth, Waquoit, Pocasset, Mash- pee. July 15-August 20. (Naushon, August 31.) 41. F. neogagates Emery. Woods Hole, Sandwich, Mashpee, Truro. (Rehoboth, August 18.) The specimens from Sandwich were in a nest that also contained the following form, and that was situated on the edge of a sand-dune. This species typically forms small colonies under stones in woods.
42. F. neogagates lasioides vetula Wheeler. Falmouth Heights, Pocasset, Sandwich, South Wellfleet. Woods Hole (Wheeler). This form nests on the edges of sand-dunes or salt-marshes.
43. F. pallidefulva schaufussi Mayr. Woods Hole, Fal- mouth.
44. F. pallidefulva schaufussi incerta Emery. Woods Hole, Falmouth, East Falmouth, West Falmouth, Waquoit, Pocasset, Sandwich, South Yarmouth, Chatham, South Well- fleet, Truro. July 15-18. (Rochester, July 22.) 45. F. pallidefulva nitidheniris Emery. Woods Hole, Falmouth, West Falmouth, East Falmouth.
46. F. pallide fulva nitidiventris fuscata Emery. Mash- pee. Woods Hole (Wheeler).
47. Polyergus lucidus Mayr. Falmouth, West Fal- mouth. The slaves in both nests were F. incerta. 48. Carnponotus castaneus Latreille. West Falmouth. August 7.
49. C. castaneus americanus Mayr. Woods Hole, Wa- quoit, Mashpee. August 14.




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19311 Cape Cod Ants 79
50. C. herculeanus pennsylvanicus Degeer. Woods Hole, Sandwich, Mashpee, North Eastham. August 16-27. (Naushon, August 30.)
5 1. C. herculeanus pennsylvanicus mahican Wheeler. Woods Hole (Wheeler). I have been unable to find this form.
52. C. herculeanus pennsylvanicus f errugineus Fabri- cius. Woods Hole. One queen and two workers, taken separately.
53. C. herculeanw ligniperda nove boracensis Fitch. Woods Hole, Waquoit, Mashpee, Hyannis, Chatham. July 4. Common in logs about sandy ponds, where it replaces penn- sylvanicus. At Woods Hole it is much less common than pennsylvanicus ; on Naushon pennsylvanicus is still more frequent, but I have not found noveboracensis. Davis, W. T., and J. Bequaert.
1922. An annotated list of the ants of Staten Island and Long Island, N. Y. Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc. 17: 1-24.
Wheeler, W. M.
1906. Fauna of New England. 7. List of the Formi- cidse. Occas. Papers Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 7: 1-24. 1910. The North American Ants of the genus Cam- ponotus Mayr. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 20: 295-354. 1913. A revision of the ants of the genus Formica (Linn6) Mayr. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. 53: 377-565. 1926. (Formicidse in: Coker, R. E., Fauna of Penikese Island, 1923). Biol. Bull. 50 : 35.
1928. Mermis parasitism and intercastes among ants. Jour. Exper. Zool. 50 : 165-237.
1928a. Ants of Nantucket Island, Mass. Psyche 35 : 10-11.




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