No. 3 — Aneitretus simoni Emery, a Major Link in Ant Evolution By E. 0. Wtlson/ T. Eisner,^ G. C. Wheeler,''' and J. Wheeler-INTRODUCTION To students of ants, the genera of the tribe Aneuretini [Aneuretus, Protaneuretus, Paraneuretus, and Mianeuretus) have always been of primary interest because of their supposed intermediate phylogenetie position between the most primitive known ants (Myrmeeiinae, Ponerinae) and the advanced sub-family Doliehoderinae. Pew tribes of ants have been more deserving of careful study, and yet few have been so little known or so inaccessible to myrmecologists. Aneuretus simoni,^ the only living species of the tribe, is known only from Ceylon and has been reported from only three collections made there. Until recently the total number of specimens in the museums of the world numbered no more than five or six. Published descriptions have contained only sketches of the gross features of external morphology, and no information whatsoever has been available concerning the internal anatomy, ecology, or behavior of this ant. During a recent visit to Ceylon one of us (Wilson) made a special attempt to find Aneuretua simoni and study it in the field. This attempt was successful to an unexpected degree. Not only were large series of A. simoni collected, including all brood stages and adult castes, but a strong beginning was made in the study of the ecology and behavior of the species. Upon his return to the United States in September, 1955, Wilson turned over part of his collection of Aneuretus to the Wheelers, who are currently engaged in comparative anatomical studies of ant larvae, and to Eisner, who at that time was in the process of completing a comparative anatomical study of the ant pro-ventriculus. The present paper is the product of the cooperative effort of the four authors, each of whom has concentrated on 1 Biological Laboratories, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 2 Department of Biology, University of North Daljota, Grand Forks, N. D. 3 Equals Aneuretus biitteli Forel, 1913, Zool. Jahrb. (Abt. Syst.), 36: 87, fig. Al, queen. NEM' SYNONYMY. This species was based on an isolated queen, which we have now definitely associated with the A. simoni worker. Types of both species have been recently examined by Wilson in the Museum d'Histoire Xaturelle. Geneva.
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