APHIS HERDS AND ANT ASSOCIATES 



the strange companionships of myrmecophilous insects, 

 as beetles, crickets, and cockroaches, that become guests 

 of ant communes. 



The Leptothorax have another source of refection, a 

 good example of which may be induced in an artifi- 

 cial nest by overfeeding the Myrmicas, which, if given 

 sugar and water after a fast, are apt to gorge themselves. 

 In this condition, as they wander about with half-open 

 jaws, minute drops of sweet liquor will be regurgitated. 

 These droplets, as they hang upon the maxillae and 

 lower mouth parts, attract the Leptothorax workers. 

 They mount the Myrmica's back and imbibe the pendent 

 droplet, at times sharing the confection with a hungry 

 myrmican worker ; or the little beggar, from its seat 

 atop of its host's head, will try the effect of the " dinner 

 shampoo," usually with the result that the over-full 

 Myrmica grows complacent and yields to her tiny but 

 canny solicitor the desired sweet. 



It was noted that during all these interchanges be- 

 tween the bulky hosts and their tiny affinities the former 

 were continuously complaisant. There were no signs 

 of irritation or resentment at the officious and uninvited 

 solicitations of the guests. They were not menaced, nor 

 seized and held in the mandibles as a mild form of 

 protest or discipline. The Myrmicas rather seemed, as 

 their observer thought, to look upon the little creatures 

 with a gentle benevolence, much as human adults regard 

 children. The friendly antennal salute was always given 

 as they passed and repassed their guests. On the other 

 hand, the Leptothorax attended upon the Myrmicas 

 with a zeal that seemed almost comical. [W. 1, p. 442.] 

 Leptothorax is a genus of cosmopolitan distribution, of 

 heterogeneous instincts, and of catholic temperament, 



253 



