THE DEGENERATE SLAVE-MAKERS. 501 



inorium colonies that had large nests with multiple craters in the paths 

 of the garden were selected and the females were placed near them one 

 at a time on the ground. In all cases when they were placed within 

 a few centimeters of the openings, they entered the nests almost imme- 

 diately ; when placed at a greater distance they wandered about demurely 

 till they found an opening and then at once crept into it. Seven of the 

 nests were thus entered by numbers of the queens without creating 

 the slightest excitement among the Tetramorium workers. These 

 merely stopped when they happened to meet a female, seized her by 

 the wings, thorax or pedicel, but at once dropped her and went about 

 their work. In no case was one of the queens injured. In three of 

 these colonies they were seized by single workers and carried into the 

 nest as fast as I could set them on the craters. Both males and females 

 were placed near the openings of one of these nests. The males were 

 seized with signs of keen interest and some animosity, to judge from 

 the way in which the workers bent their gasters forward and tried to 

 sting the helpless creatures. They were not killed, however, but carried 

 a few decimeters from the nest and then thrown away, sometimes from 

 the top of a pebble or lump of earth. This was being done while other 

 workers were carrying the females into the nest. One vigorous colony 

 exhibited a different behavior : All the parasites, both male and female, 

 were at once seized, pulled about- by the legs, wings and antennas, and 

 then carried away and dumped on the ground at some distance from 

 the nest. In this instance several of the parasites of both sexes were 

 injured so that they could not walk. Strange Tetramorium workers 

 placed on any of the nests above mentioned were suddenly pounced 

 upon and killed. These observations show that the Aner gates queens 

 are, as a rule, treated with great lenity and even carried into the nests, 

 but that the males are rejected. They also show that certain colonies 

 are positively hostile to both sexes of the parasites. In all cases, how- 

 ever, the behavior of the Anergates queens was very uniform: they 

 sought and entered the Tetramorium nests as if these belonged to them, 

 offered no resistance when seized, and, when roughly handled, merely 

 curled up and feigned death. The experiments were continued through- 

 out the morning. With, the gradually increasing temperature towards 

 noon the Tetramorium became more numerous and active outside their 

 nests, but their treatment of the Anergates, which I was continually 

 giving them, remained the same. Late in the afternoon the experi- 

 ments were repeated on two of the colonies, which, during the morn- 

 ing, had been entered without protest by a number of the parasitic 

 queens. The workers were out in a multitude, excavating and dragging 

 in insect food. When male, female or pupal Anergates were placed 



