The ants Pogonomyrmex catifornicus and Pheidole tucsonica display cooperative colony foundation with co-foundresses forming associations without respect to relatedness. Geographic variation in method of colony foundation [cooperative (pleometrosis) versus non-cooperative (haplometrosis)] occurs in P. californicus, Acromyrmex versicolor, Myrmecocystus mimicus and Messor pergandei. Such variation in colony founding behavior strongly suggests
that comparative studies of the adaptive value of cooperative colony founding will be extremely rewarding.

Steven W. Rissing

Robert A. Johnson

John W. Martin

Colony Founding Behavior of Some Desert Ants: Geographic Variation in Metrosis

A forager of the eusocial wasp Parachartergus fraternus used its venom to subdue an unidentified small caterpillar, and another P. fraternus forager repeatedly stung a large saturniid caterpillar. In both instances, the wasp stung the larva and then waited nearby until the prey was fully paralyzed before biting it into manageable packets of meat. A review of the literature on social wasp foraging yielded no similar observations of a social wasp using venom when killing prey.
Elements of the foraging behavior of P. fraternus are also seen in the foraging behavior of the Eumeninae, the solitary wasp taxon most closely related to eusocial wasps.

Eric J. Olson

Parachartergus fraternus (Gribodo) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Polistinae) Uses Venom When Taking Caterpillar Prey

Males of the weevil Parisoschoenus expositus use their prothoracic horns as weapons in stylized battles with other males over females that are drilling oviposition holes in palm leaves. The unusual sheath-like structures that penetrate deep into the male prothorax function to receive the horns of opponents during battles. Horn size is dimorphic with respect to body size, and small and large males also differ behaviorally. Small males that have mated with a drilling female are sometimes able to impede a large male&#x27;s access to the female until after she has oviposited, but they are not able to take over females from larger
males.

William G. Eberhard

J. Mauricio Garcia-C.

Ritual Jousting by Horned Parisoschoenus expositus Weevils (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Baridinae)

Edward O. Wilson

A Memorial Tribute to William L. Brown

The small (2.5-3.0 mm), colorful metine spider, Homalometa nigritarsis Simon 1897, Family Tetragnathidae, has previously been reported from northern Mexico, Panama and the southern islands of the Lesser Antilles (Levi 1986). In the rain forest of northeastern Puerto Rico it is most frequently found with webbing on the larger outer concave surfaces of pendulous leaves. H. nigritarsis typically makes a circular, relatively flat retreat within which the female deposits two parallel rows of naked eggs. The rows are produced at intervals; as one row hatches another replaces it shortly thereafter. Evidence of up to four generations of rows has been observed. Above the retreat, and closely aligned with it, the spider builds a nearly invisible, delicate orb web, typically from edge to edge of the leaf (Fig. 1a and b). While retaining the traditional orb-web, H. nigritarsis has adopted a unique habitat and set of life history features.

Robert L. Edwards

Annabel D. Edwards

Observations on the Webs and Life History of Homalometa nigritarsis (Araneae: Tetragnathidae):
A Spider That Lays Its Eggs in Rows

In the Empress Leilia butterfly, Asterocampa leilia, as in many insects, males have larger eyes than females. We explore the morphological causes and consequences of this dimorphism in eye size by comparing the corneal surface area, facet numbers, and patterns of variation in facet dimensions in males and females. We report that, with body size (measured by forewing length) controlled, male eyes are consistently larger than female eyes, and that, although males and females do not differ significantly in the number of facets per eye, males have significantly larger facets. Also, males have disproportionately larger facets both frontally and dorsally. As a result of these sexual differences in eye structure, males are expected to have a larger and more acute visual field than females which could be advantageous in the context of this species&#x27; mate searching tactic.

Kristine S. Ziemba

Ronald L. Rutowski

Sexual Dimorphism in Eye Morphology in a Butterfly (Asterocampa leilia; Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae)

An ecological survey of the ant fauna of the southern part of the Junggar Basin and adjacent mountains, Xinjiang, China, revealed 46 species of which 27 (59&#x25;) were new records for China. Most of the species are widespread and no endemics were found. A largely boreal fauna occupies the spruce forest zone at high elevations of the Tienshan Mountains, giving way, lower down, in elm forest, to a mixed, but primarily mesic temperate fauna. Loess desert and degraded steppe at mid-elevations and in the foothills are overgrazed and have only a few species that elsewhere occur in temperate mesic and/or steppic habitats. The sandy deserts and poplar woodlands of the arid Junggar Basin have a fauna characteristic of deserts and steppes. The salt desert fauna has a strange mixture of a number of elements.

Cedric Collingwood

Harold Heatwole

Ants from Northwestern China (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

About this journal

Psyche publishes original research articles as well as review articles in all areas of basic entomology. Psyche is the official publication of the Cambridge Entomological Club, which founded the journal in 1874.

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Chief Editor Dr Ai-Ping Liang&nbsp;is based at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China. His research interests&nbsp;center around the taxonomy, morphology, phylogeny, evolution and biogeography of spittlebug superfamily Cercopoidea and&nbsp;planthopper superfamily Fulgoroidea.

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Psyche: A Journal of Entomology - Table of contents 2000

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Psyche publishes original research articles as well as review articles in all areas of basic entomology. Psyche is the official publication of the Cambridge Entomological Club, which founded the journal in 1874.

Psyche: A Journal of Entomology