Feeding and Digestion in Some Ants (Veromessor and Manica)

A survey of the ants of Nevada and of the soil fungi were — surprisingly — mutually stimulating. We have observed the food habits of Veromessor pergandei, a desert harvester, and found suggestions that they may have an incipient fungus-growing ability. It is suggested also that larvae may do the actual digesting of some seeds for the colony. A few preliminary observations suggest that Manica bradleyi, a montane forest species, may use the abundant mycorrhizal roots associated with their nests for food and the larvae may do the actual feeding, returning some of the digested food to the workers.