220 ANTS. 



A lot of threads wen --een crossing one another and in sonic places a 

 number of the threads had a common direction. This agrees very well 

 with my observation.-, on the origin of the web. The ants are m the 

 habit of moving to and fro with the larvse many times in the same place 

 before changing their position and running the thread cros>wi>e. In 

 this way strands are soon formed on the outside of the web and evi- 

 dently save labor on the part of the ants that are holding the leaves 

 together. I'mler the microscope the threads appear to be glued to- 

 gether at many points. This condition is very easily explained when 

 we consider that each thread is moist and sticky for a few moments 

 after leaving the sericteries of the larva. 



" I was unable to see the thread itself while it was being spun as it 

 is too delicate and .transparent to be visible to the unaided eye. I tried 

 to see it with a strong lens, but in a twinkling dozens of ants had 

 covered my eyelids and after brushing them away I was only too glad 

 to be able to see at all." Doflein ( 1906) has recently described and 

 figured the voluminous spinning glands of CEcof>h\lla ( Fig. 124. D ). 



Dodd's account of the nest-building of (Ecophylla I'ircscais in 

 Queensland, published in 1902, is also worth quoting, as it contains 

 some interesting details not observed by Doflein : 



" It is decidedly interesting to observe the insects engaged upon the 

 construction of their domiciles. If the foliage is large or stiff, scores 

 or even hundreds of the ants may be required to haul a leaf down and 

 detain it in place until secured, both operations taking considerable 

 time. It is quite a tug-of-war matter to bring the leaf into position 

 and keep it there. The insects holding it have a chain of two or three 

 of their comrades fastened on to them, one behind the other, each hold- 

 ing its neighbor by its slender waist, and all at full stretch and pulling 

 most earnestly. What a strain it must be for poor number one ! \Yhen 

 the leaf is far apart the ants form themselves into chains to bridge the 

 distance and bring it down ; many of these chains are frequently required 

 for a single leaf. I have seen a large colony at work upon a new nest, 

 and several of these chains were from three to four inches long ; alto- 

 gether there were many of them in evidence, some perpedicular, others 

 horizontal. Up or along these living bridges other ants were passing.' 

 ' Now for the web material used to build the nests. It is furnished 

 in fine and delicate threads by the larvae ; moreover, I have only seen 

 what appears to be half-grown examples used for the work I have 



1 There can be no doubt of the accuracy of this extraordinary observation. 

 During the summer of 1909 Prof. Ed. Bugnion showed me some fine draw- 

 ings of these chains of (Ecophylla workers, which he had recently observed in 

 Ceylon. Prof. Bugnion did not know of Dodd's observations. 



