Before leaving Mentone, on May 1, I turned out this second captive nest, and found that the colony appeared perfectly healthy, and did not seem to have diminished materially in numbers. The queen ant and the larvæ seemed to be in just the same state as when they were taken. The earth in the lower part of the jar was honeycombed with galleries, granaries, and cells, constructed quite as in the wild nests, but more crowded together. The granaries were in many instances full of seeds, which, though very wet, [the surrounding soil being extremely moist on account of there being no drainage to carry off the water which I was obliged to sprinkle from time to time over the surface of the nest], still showed no trace of germination that I could detect. The ants were therefore able to exercise the same influence over these seeds, under the strange conditions of their captive state, that they do in their natural homes.

The foregoing remarks, as has been stated above, refer for the most part to only one of the three kinds of harvesting ants which I have observed on the Riviera—that is to say, to Atta barbara, the jet-black ant.

As far as the manner of collecting and storing the seed is concerned, all that has been said of Atta barbara applies with equal truth to A. structor.

A. structor is, however, less frequently seen above ground from December to March than barbara, and is more frequently found in or near the streets and gardens of a town.

The fourth species, on the other hand, the little Pheidole megacephala, differs in several particulars. This ant appears to shun the daylight, and to be most active at night, when, in the warm weather at the end of April, it may frequently be seen carrying large quantities of seeds into its nest. I have rarely observed it at work in the daylight, so that my knowledge of its habits is but small. Nor have I succeeded in discovering its subterranean granaries, though I have opened several nests. Still, I believe that it is a true harvesting ant, and not merely a casual collector of seeds. Of the habits of Pheidole pallidula, a very closely allied and similar species, but one less frequently met with, I cannot speak with certainty, though it is quite possible that it also may be a true harvester, in which case it would add a fifth species to this class.

Both Pheidole megacephala and Ph. pallidula appear to remain inactive, or nearly so, during the months from November to April, and it is probable that they are only to be seen in full activity during the summer when I am not there to watch them.

There can be little doubt that any naturalist who will take the pains to note the habits of ants on the shores of the Mediterranean through June, July, August, and September, might collect a most interesting series of observations on harvesting and other species, and add to, and perhaps modify, those which my limited opportunities have enabled me to make.

There are three other ants[33]—namely, Formica emarginata, F. fusca, and Myrmica cæspitum, which may also occasionally be found carrying a few seeds, but this is the rare exception, as far as my experience goes, these species living on honey dew, sweet secretions, and animal matter, like the great majority of ants all over the world. I have never found seeds in the nests of any ants except those of Atta barbara and A. structor, though I have carefully searched for them in most of the nests of the sixteen species of ants whose habits I have watched.

There is every probability that these harvesting ants will be found all round the shores of the Mediterranean, but the only points at which I have positively heard of the existence of the habit besides Mentone, Cannes, and Marseilles, are Capri[34] and Algiers. I am indebted to Miss Forster for having, during a short visit to Algiers, devoted some time to watching the habits of the ants in a garden at that place. These observations were made in April last (1872), when the three following species were watched:—

(1) Formica (Cataglyphis) viatica, a large, long-legged, blackish ant, with orange-red and semi-transparent thorax, which never carried seeds, but lived on animal food, especially flies. (2) Formica (Tapinoma) nigerrima,[35] a rather small dusky ant, which brought in some seeds to its nest, but principally "animal food, flies, small worms," &c., and which did not carry the hemp and canary seed strewed in their path, though on one occasion when Miss Forster scattered some split hemp seed, they eagerly fastened upon the contents, and ate some on the spot, while they transported the greater part to their nest, and (3) Atta barbara, which, as on the Riviera, was a true and most active harvester, and eagerly seized upon the hemp and canary seed when these were placed in its way.

Recapitulation and Concluding Remarks.

There are some points of interest suggesting openings for future observation, to which I will now allude, making at the same time a partial recapitulation of what has gone before.

We have learned in the first place that the ancients had facts on their side when they said that the ant is one of the very few creatures which lays up supplies of food sufficient to last for months, or even perhaps, as Bochart says, for a whole year; and though we cannot quite accept the statement that "there is no animal except men, mice, and ants, that stores its food,"[36] they were right in saying that the habit is a most singular and interesting one. It is probable, however, that the old writers may have fallen into the error of supposing that all ants were harvesters, though the truth appears to be, that even in hot climates, it is only a very small number of species that are so. The fact that certain ants in Southern Europe do store large quantities of sound seed in damp soil, and check their tendency to germinate, may be thought to favour the possibility of the existence of those deeply hidden supplies of seed which, though they have never been detected, are popularly supposed to explain the sudden appearance of the crops of weeds on soil newly brought out from great depths.

The argument may be stated thus: seeds remain for months undecayed, and still capable of germination, at depths varying from one to twenty inches below the surface of the soil in certain ants' nests, why should they not lie hidden for indefinite periods in ordinary soil?

To answer this positively, experiments should be made[37] in order that we might learn whether these seeds can retain their vitality without sprouting in moist soil; but the general belief is that under these conditions they will do one of two things, they will either grow or rot. Be this as it may, one of the most curious points that we have learned about these ants, is that they know how to preserve seeds intact, even when within from one to three inches of the surface of the ground, that is to say, at the actual depth at which a gardener most frequently sows his seeds, though if these very seeds are taken out of the granary and sowed by hand, they will germinate in the ordinary way. It is possible that this may be in part due to the compact nature of the floors and ceilings of the granaries, these excluding air in some measure, though as moisture freely passes through them, and there are always two or three open galleries leading into the granaries, and which communicate directly with the open air, I can scarcely accept this explanation as complete.

The seeds do occasionally sprout in the nest, though it is extremely rare to find instances of this, and then the ants nip off the little root, and carry each seed out into the air and sun, exactly as the old writers have described, and when the growth has been checked and the seed malted by exposure, they fetch them in again. It is in this condition that the ants like best to eat them, as I have proved by experiments among my captives.

As the ants often travel some distance from their nest in search of food, they may certainly be said to be, in a limited sense, agents in the dispersal of seeds, for they not unfrequently drop seeds by the way, which they fail to find again, and also among the refuse matter which forms the kitchen midden in front of their entrances, a few sound seeds are often present, and these in many instances grow up and form a little colony of stranger plants. This presence of seedlings foreign to the wild ground in which the nest is usually placed, is quite a feature where there are old established colonies of Atta barbara, as is shown at Fig. A in Plate I., p. 21, where young plants of fumitory, chickweed, cranesbill, Arabis Thaliana, &c., may be seen on or near the rubbish heap.

It would be interesting to make a list of all these ant-imported plants, and I think it quite likely that, if a sufficiently large number of nests were visited, some seedlings of cultivated species might be found amongst them, for we have seen that garden plants are frequently put under contribution.

One can imagine cases in which the ants during the lapse of long periods of time might pass the seeds of plants from colony to colony, until after a journey of many stages, the descendants of the ant-borne seedlings might find themselves transported to places far removed from the original home of their immediate ancestors. It is a true cause, but at the same time it may be one which has, like many true causes, exceedingly small effects. One can scarcely look at the teeming population of an ant's nest, without asking whether there are any checks to their increase, and if so, what these checks are. I know very little of what foreign enemies they may have, though I have occasionally seen them captured by lizards, Cicindela beetles, and spiders,[38] and it is well known that the females are eagerly sought for by birds at the season when they are above ground, and about to found new colonies; but I believe that ants are the ants' worst enemies, for fearful slaughter and mutilation often result from the encounter of armies of the same race, but belonging to different nests.

Harvesting ants have nothing to do, as far as I have been able to discover, with aphides, cocci, and the like, nor do they seek for any of those sweet secretions which are the staple food of the generality of ants; they live, however, on very friendly terms with certain yellowish-white and satiny-coated "silver-fish" (Lepisma), which are found in the passages and chambers of the nests; but what their relations are to these creatures and to certain beetles which have been found in the nests of Atta barbara in Spain and Syria is unknown. It is possible that by carefully watching captive ants in company with these creatures under very favourable conditions, something further might be learned on this head. My captive ants constructed all their chambers, granaries, and almost all their galleries away from the glass, and in the interior of the earth, though I tried to tempt them to work in parts more accessible to sight by swathing the jar in flannel.

There is much to be learned, I do not doubt, about the friends and enemies of harvesting ants; and another great desideratum is further information as to the parts of the world in which they are found and what causes may be assigned for the limitation of the habit.

What is the geographical distribution of the harvesting species, and what the geographical distribution of the habit? For instance, to quote Mr. F. Smith,[39] Atta structor, though not "found in England, is scattered over a great part of Europe, having occurred in France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Dalmatia, and Switzerland; it has also been found in Algeria" and Syria; and A. barbara is almost as widely spread. May we then conclude that these species are harvesters wherever they are found, and that they store seed in Germany and Switzerland as freely as they do on the shores of the Mediterranean? If this be really so, then Huber, whose attention was specially directed to this point, and a host of laborious and scrupulous observers of the Continent, have had the very fact under their eyes, though they have been at considerable pains expressly to deny it. I cannot think that this is likely, but it is a matter which could easily be settled by those who travel or reside in Germany, Northern France, or Switzerland.

It seems to me more probable, however, that they do store in the south, but not in the north; for all the difficulties which attend the preservation of the seed in the granaries in the south would be greatly increased in the wet climates of Northern Europe, and there, moreover, the greater cold would render the ants torpid almost throughout the winter, when food would not be required. But the question is plainly an open one. We may also ask why it is that only a very few out of the many species of ants which inhabit the shores of the Mediterranean should possess this habit of collecting seeds, and differ so widely in their manner of living, from their neighbours?

If we wish to put ourselves in the way to answer these queries, the first thing we should do would be to examine and compare the structure of the digestive organs and parts of the mouth in harvesters and non-harvesters, with a view to seeing whether there may not be some capital difference here.

These observations demand some skill in dissection and preparation, and in regretting that it has not been in my power to make them, I can only hope that some one more skilled than I am may undertake the subject.

It seems probable, that in warmer latitudes there are many conditions which favour the rapid increase of ants, so that a given tract of country in Southern Europe, for example, must have on an average more colonies to support than a similar tract in the north, and that to meet this increase of population, it has therefore become necessary for these creatures to seek their subsistence from as many and as dissimilar sources as possible. The fierce conflicts over booty both between rival nests of the same and of distinct species, tend to show that, even as things are, they frequently have to fight for their food.

Hitherto, as far as I have been able to learn, only nineteen true harvesting ants have been detected in the whole world, limiting this term to those species which make the collection of seeds the principal occupation of their outdoor lives, and are evidently in the main dependent upon this kind of food for subsistence.

Now if we compare these nineteen species of ants[40] together a very curious fact forces itself upon our notice—namely, that all of them are closely related, so much so that not only do all belong to the same division of ants (the tribe Myrmicineæ), but that with one exception (Pseudomyrma) all would have been placed by the great Fabricius in one genus, Atta, and the one exception is not far removed from it.

We must not forget, however, that, as has been stated, there are other ants which do occasionally collect seeds, and thus appear to show traces of this remarkable instinct; but as far as I have yet seen, it is always possible to distinguish them readily from true harvesters. Still I think it very likely that in hot climates the division between harvesters and non-harvesters may be bridged over by a complete chain of intermediates. Here two more questions suggest themselves for more complete future solution. (1) Do true harvesters which store seed in granaries ever attend upon aphides and seek for sweet secretions? (2) Do occasional harvesters ever form granaries?

In any case the name of "the provident one" is only, I suspect, fully deserved by a limited number of ants, and Æsop, in his well-known fable, might as properly have made the dialogue which ends in the recommendation to "dance in winter as he piped in summer," take place between two ants as between an ant and a grasshopper, as far at least as their respective foresight is concerned.

Why it is that one ant should require stores of food in the winter of which other ants have no need, is one of the many problems which only patient watching and careful comparison and experiment can help us to solve.

There are not wanting those among the many winter visitors of the south who have time in abundance or superabundance at their disposal, and might help to clear up these and many other mysteries, and to them I would strongly recommend the study of the habits of plants and animals as a pastime, if nothing more.

The way is open: it is not difficult to follow, and it leads to very pleasant places.

APPENDIX.

A.

The following are the species of ants which I have observed on the Riviera, and principally at Mentone; the actual locality where my notes were taken being given in every case.

Family Formicidæ.[41]

Tribe Formicineæ.—Petiole (or stalk which unites the thorax and the abdomen) of one joint, and furnished with a single vertical scale, abdomen not contracted.

(1) Formica fusca, Linn.—A rather large ant (3¹/₂ to 4¹/₂ lines long), of a blackish ash colour, with a satiny sheen on the upper half of the abdomen. Smells of formic acid when crushed. Lives upon sweet secretions and animal matter, and occasionally carries a very few seeds into its nest, which is made in the ground. (Mentone.)

(2) F. emarginata, Latr.—Of medium size (2¹/₂ lines), brownish, with yellow thorax. Has a strong smell of honey when crushed. Lives principally upon sweet secretions, but occasionally carries a very few seeds also. Nest in the ground. (Mentone.)

(3) F. (Camponotus) cruentata, Lat.—Large (5 to 6 lines), dusky brown, with orange red on legs and abdomen. Strong smell of formic acid. Lives on sweet secretions and animal matter, and has never been seen by me carrying seeds. Nest in the ground. (Mentone and Cannes.)

(4) F. (Camponotus) marginata, Latr.—Large (4 to 5¹/₂ lines), black. Has no perceptible smell even when crushed. Lives principally on sweet secretions, and does not bring in seeds to its nest, which is made in the ground. I have seen this ant at Cannes ascending the cork oaks in search of certain cocci which resemble black and shining berries rather larger than a pea, and which exude sweet secretions. (Mentone and Cannes.)

(5) Formica cursor, Fonscol.—A rather large but slender ant (3 to 4 lines long), nearly black, with a faint bronzy hue, legs very long. Smell not noted. Runs very swiftly, and is hard to catch; feeds on sweet secretions, and does not carry seeds. Nest in ground. (Cannes.)

(6) F. (species undetermined).—A large ant (5 to 6¹/₂ lines), black brown with yellow thorax and legs. In shape resembles F. marginata. Strong smell of formic acid. Habits not observed. Nest found under a stone in a pine wood. (Cannes.)

(7) F. (species undetermined).—A rather large ant (3 to 4¹/₂ lines), resembling F. fusca, but having the thorax yellow. Strong smell of formic acid. Feeds on sweet secretions, and does not carry seeds. Nest in ground. (Cannes.)

(8) Formica (Tapinoma) erratica, Latr.—Rather small (2 lines), nearly black. Has a strong and most disagreeable smell, something like rancid oil, which is emitted if the nest is disturbed or the insect crushed. Lives upon sweet secretions and animal matter, but rarely if ever carries seeds, and pays no attention to them if placed in its path. It nests in the ground, and forms superficial covered ways, roofed in with a thin crust of earth and vegetable fibres cemented together. (Mentone, Cannes.)

Tribe Myrmicineæ. Petiole two jointed, furnished with two nodes (protuberances).

(9) Crematogaster (Myrmica) scutellaris, Oliv.—Of medium size (3¹/₂ 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 (1¹/₂ 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 (1¹/₂ 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 (1¹/₂ 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.)

(16) Atta (Aph. or Myrmica) barbara var.—A large ant (3 to 6 lines). The larger workers black, with red or mahogany-coloured heads, the smaller most frequently black, and like those of Atta barbara, of which this is probably only a variety. It differs however in its smell, which, when the body is crushed, resembles that of Pheidole megacephala, and is something like aniseed. Habits of structor and barbara. Nest in earth. On one occasion I opened a large nest at Cannes, where the colony was composed in about equal parts of ants which in colour and appearance might be said to represent the three forms, structor, barbara, and the red-headed variety of the latter. There were also a few ants with pale yellowish brown heads. (Mentone and Cannes.)

B.

The following Indian species are described by the late Dr. Jerdon as harvesters, in the Madras Journal Lit. and Sc. 1851:—

(p. 45). Atta rufa.—"Its favourite food is dead insects and other matter, but it also carries off seeds like the Œcodoma, chaff," &c. &c. (p. 46). Œcodoma providens.—"Their common food I suspect to be animal matter, dead insects, &c. &c., which at all events they take readily, but they also carry off large quantities of seeds of various kinds, especially light grass seeds, and more especially garden seeds, as every gardener knows to his cost. They will take off cabbage, celery, radish, carrot, and tomato seeds, and in some gardens, unless the pots in which they are sown be suspended or otherwise protected, the whole of the seeds sown will be removed in one night. I have also had many packets of seeds (especially lettuce) in my room completely emptied before I was aware that the ants had discovered them. I do not know, however, if they eat them or feed their larvæ on them, though for what other purpose they carry them off I cannot divine. I have often observed them bring the seeds outside their holes, as recorded by Colonel Sykes, and this I think generally at the close of the rainy season; but in some cases I had reason to believe that it was merely the husks, of which I have seen quite heaps, and that the ants did not take them back to their nests. If any of the forementioned seeds be sown out at once in a bed, most likely in the morning the surface of the whole spot will be found covered over with little ridges, the works of these creatures, and the few seeds that perhaps remain, dug all round, and being carried off sometimes above ground, at other times under ground. Their galleries and subterranean passages are often very extensive, and it is no easy matter to dig down to their nest to see what becomes of the seeds." Œcodoma diffusa has the same habits as Œ. providens.

Lieut.-Col. Sykes, Descriptions of New Indian Ants in Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond., i. 103 (1836).

Atta providens, Sykes. "In illustration of the habits of this species of ant, I shall give the following extract from my diary:—'Poona, June 19, 1829. In my morning walk I observed more than a score of little heaps of grass-seeds (Panicum) in several places on uncultivated land near the parade-ground; each heap contained about a handful. On examination, I found they were raised by the above species of ant, hundreds of which were employed in bringing up the seeds to the surface from a store below; the grain had probably got wet at the setting in of the monsoon, and the ants had taken advantage of the first sunny day to bring it up to dry. The store must have been laid up from the time of the ripening of the grass-seeds in January and February. As I was aware this fact militated against the observations of entomologists in Europe, I was careful not to deceive myself by confounding the seeds of a Panicum with the pupæ of the insect. Each ant was charged with a single seed, but as it was too weighty for many of them, and as the strongest had some difficulty in scaling the perpendicular sides of the cylindrical hole leading to the nest below, many were the falls of the weaker ants with their burdens from near the summit to the bottom. I observed they never relaxed their hold, and with a perseverance affording a useful lesson to humanity, steadily recommenced the ascent after each successive tumble, nor halted in their labour until they had crowned the summit, and lodged their burden on the common heap.'"

(p. 104). "On the 13th of October of the same year, after the closing thunderstorms of the monsoon, I found this species in various places similarly employed as they had been in June preceding; one heap contained a double handful of grass-seeds. It is probable that the Atta providens is a field species of ant, as I have not observed it in the houses."

C.

After the appearance of a brief notice of a communication which I sent in the winter of 1871-72 to the London Entomological Society, announcing the fact that certain ants harvest seeds in a systematic way at Mentone, two papers were published, in which confirmatory evidence of the existence of the habit in other parts of the world was set forth—one by Mr. Buchanan White, and the other by the late Mr. Horne.

Mr. Horne's account of his observations was published in Hardwicke's Science Gossip, No. 89, p. 109 (for May 1, 1872), and runs as follows:[42]—

"My notes carry me to the far East, where I have often watched this most interesting class of insects, and briefly recorded my observations—unfortunately cut short by illness, and the necessity of return to Europe, which must be my apology for their want of completeness.

"But before transcribing, I would remind my general reader that all ants may be seen carrying off food to their nests for present consumption, and that this food consists of a great variety of substances. This is disposed of inside the said nest, being often masticated, and the juice extracted by the workers, and then given in an inspissated form from their mouths to the young grubs, which are in general tended by their nurses with the greatest care. It is indeed very curious to watch this feeding process; but to proceed.

"Under date Nov. 7th, 1866, I find in my natural history note-book as follows:—Mainpuri. This morning as I was walking across the 'Oosur,' or waste plain, where it was very sandy, being cut into small ravines, and clothed only here and there with fine grass disposed in clumps, thus forming little hillocks of sand blown by the wind, and arrested in its course by the grass, I came across a long line of ants, travelling four deep, some coming empty, and others laden each with one grass-seed, on their way home.

"I followed up the procession to the nest, which was subterranean, and at the mouth of which on the level plain there was no trace of elevation caused by the soil brought up from below, owing to the habit of these ants of taking each grain of sand to some distance along their road, and depositing it on one side or the other.

"There may have been five or six entrances to the nest, in and out of which a prodigious number of ants were passing, the species of which has been described by Dr. Jerdon. They were of a medium size, shortish bodies, and of a reddish-brown colour—Pseudomyrma rufo-nigra, Jerdon. Around the mouth of the nest, forming a circle of perhaps eighteen inches in diameter, was a space beaten flat, and kept clear by these said ants, from which radiated in every direction thirteen roads, each about four inches in width for about thirty to forty yards, when they branched off and became narrower, being ultimately lost amongst the grass roots. These paths were fairly straight; they did not cut through elevations, but went round them.

"From a careful examination it appeared that they had been cleared of all obstacles, such as small stones, twigs, &c., but that their smoothness resulted only from the tread of countless feet.

"The bearers of burdens took the seeds into the nest, which I did not dig up, and certainly stored them there, after having prepared them, probably by the removal of a portion of the outer husk. Of these husks there were large collections near the entrances to the nest, all carefully set aside by the ants.

"In times of famine, I am told, not only are the nests rifled of their grass-seed stores, but these heaps of apparent husks are collected and ground with other grain to eke out a subsistence.

"This kind of grain has a name, 'Jurroon,' derived from 'Jharna,' to sweep, literally sweepings. I much regret that I have not preserved specimens of this 'Jurroon,' for it is very unlikely that the ants after taking it to their granary, should again throw it out, and yet, if grainless, what benefit could there be in eating it? The season of the year when I observed them (November) is the beginning of the cold weather, and no rain would probably fall (excepting a little at Christmas) till next May or June. Later on seed would be rare; and how the nest fares at a time when floods of water often pass over the plain I cannot conceive.

"It is clear that some escape, and we know with what prodigious rapidity these colonies increase. But these jottings have been recorded merely to show how this species of ant store grain against a time of scarcity, and fully bear out the statement in the text with which I commenced this paper."

The following are Dr. Buchanan White's notes, alluded to above, published in the Transactions of the Entomological Society (London, 1872) part i., Proceedings, p. v.:—

"Capri, June 3, 1866. In the afternoon to the Punta Tragara, where a colony of ants afforded us much amusement. These little insects had a regular road, made by cutting away the grass and other plants in their way. This road was about one inch and a half wide, and several yards long, and led to a clump of plants in seed. Along this road a long train of ants were perpetually travelling to the nest (or formicarium), bearing with them pods of leguminous plants, seeds of grass and of Composites (Chrysanth. segetum), &c.

"The perseverance with which a single ant would tug and draw a pod four times his own length was very interesting; sometimes three or four ants would unite in carrying one burden. Near the formicarium was a great mass of débris, consisting of empty pods, twigs, emptied snail shells, &c., cast out by the ants. The seeds appeared to be stored inside the nest, as in one that I opened the other day I found a large collection. The species was a black ant; the formicarium was underground."

D.

On Collecting and Examining Ants.

There are very few branches of natural history which might be more easily followed by a traveller, or one who fears to encumber himself with bulky collections difficult to transport from place to place, than the study of ants. The whole European ant fauna might be adequately represented by specimens preserved in spirit of wine and packed in the compass of a hat-box.

In taking specimens of ants it is important never to put the representatives of more than one nest in each bottle, but then in most cases a sufficient number may be placed in a single bottle of the size used for containing the smaller homœopathic globules. If possible the winged male and female ants, as well as the wingless workers, should be secured.

The ants die very quickly in pure spirit of wine, and they can afterwards, even after the lapse of months or more, be pinned out in the cabinet after having been washed in warm water. In examining the mouth organs of an ant in order to determine by the aid of books to what genus it belongs, it is best to relax the parts by first washing away the spirit of wine, and then leaving the specimen for a day or more in a stopper bottle partly filled with finely chopped laurel leaves. It is probable that a drop or two of prussic acid on a bit of sponge might act as effectually in rendering the tissues pliable.

A compound microscope is necessary for the final examination of the joints of the labial and maxillary palpi (see Fig. D 2, Plate I., p. 21); but the neuration of the wing (D 1, Plate I.), another very important character, is easily detected with a good pocket-lens.

The works which may most usefully be consulted are, for France, M. Nylander's Formicides de France et d'Algérie, published in vol. v. of the fourth series of the Zoological Division of the Annales des Sciences Naturelles; for England, Mr. F. Smith's Catalogue of British Fossorial Hymenoptera (1856); and for a more general review of the species in the world at large, Mr. F. Smith's Catalogue of Hymenopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum, Part vi., Formicidæ (1858), and M. Mayr's Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Ameisen, published in the Verhandlungen des Zoologisch-botanischen Vereines in Wien, iii. 1853. Abhandlungen (p. 101).

PART II.

TRAP-DOOR SPIDERS.

PART II.

TRAP-DOOR SPIDERS.

It is now one hundred and sixteen years since Patrick Browne gave an illustration in his Civil and Natural History of Jamaica[43] of the nest of a trap-door spider, the first record of the kind with which I am acquainted. Seven years later the careful observations of the Abbé Sauvages appeared,[44] in which he gave a very good description of the nests of the "araignée maçonne" (Nemesia cæmentaria), which he discovered near Montpellier, likening them to little rabbit burrows lined with silk and closed by a tightly-fitting moveable door. In 1778 and 1794 Rossi[45] published an interesting account of the nest and habits of a trap-door spider which he had observed in Corsica and near Pisa; and from that time up to the present day the curious dwellings of these creatures, many species of which have been discovered in warm climates, have continued to attract the attention of naturalists.