ADOPTION OF QUEENS BY ALIEN SPECIES. 287 



9.00 A.M. She is about two inches from the sponge, not holding the worker, 

 but one of them is holding her by the antennae. 



9.15 A.M. She is again on the sponge with the brood and is holding the worker 

 by a middle leg. The worker seems to be helpless in her grasp and does 

 not attempt to escape. 



9.22 A.M. I change the orange glass in order to make the other chamber the 

 dark one. 



9.35 A.M. The brood has all been removed to the moist sponge in the other 

 chamber. A few ants still running about in this (now light) chamber. The 

 queen and her victim still on the sponge. The other ants sometimes come 

 up and feel them over with their antennae but do not attack the queen. 



10.00 A.M. During the past forty-five minutes the queen has been standing 

 almost motionless. She now begins to move about on the sponge, probably 

 because all the other ants are gone. At times she stands on her middle and 

 hind feet and with her front feet seems to try to twist or change the position 

 of the worker she is holding. She bends under her abdomen as though 

 spraying the worker with formic acid. 



10. 10 A.M. She leaves the sponge and carries the worker about for a minute 

 and then comes back. 



11.30 A.M. She has remained on the sponge all this time holding the worker. 



11.40 A.M. She is alone on the sponge. I do not know whether the worker 

 escaped or whether it died and she dropped it. There are several dead 

 workers in this chamber. 



11.45 A.M. She is running about in the light chamber and seems to be entirely 

 uninjured. 



11.50 A.M. She goes into the dark chamber, seizes a worker by the thorax near 

 the petiole (almost exactly the same hold she had on the first worker) 

 climbs on to the sponge and stops just in the middle of the brood and workers 

 some of which pull her legs or antennas, but she retains her hold on the one 

 worker and remains in the same position. I remove all the dead workers 

 from the nest. 



1.40 P.M. Still holding the worker in the same way. 



3.15 P.M. The queen is still holding the worker and is staying with the brood. 



6.15 P.M. The same. 



Aug. 13 9.15 A.M. The same. There are no dead workers in the nest so she has 

 not killed any of them. 



n.ooA.M. The same. 



12. oo M. The same. 



1.25 P.M. The queen is not holding the worker but three of the workers are 

 holding her, one by the petiole, one by an antenna and one by a mouth part. 



3.00 P.M. Three workers are holding the queen. 



6.00 P.M. The queen is again holding a worker and three workers are holding her. 



Aug. 14 9.30 A.M. The queen is being stretched out by two workers that are 



pulling in opposite directions on her legs. She is not holding the worker now. 



10.30 A.M. The queen is running about in the light chamber. 



6.00 P.M. She is alone in the light chamber, and has two legs and one antenna 



partly gone. 



Aug. 15 9.00 A.M. In the light chamber alone; she has four legs and both an- 

 tennae partly gone. 



