430 MORRIS M. WELLS 



tralia. Wheeler has observed that the fertilized females of this 

 species lose their wings and found a colony just as do the higher 

 types of ants. 



Snyder (16) says that when termites swarm for the mating 

 flight they do not fly more than 75-100 feet from the original 

 colony. It is of interest to note that with the termites copula- 

 tion between the royal pair is repeated at irregular intervals 

 over several years. There is apparently no adaptation, as in 

 the ants, for keeping the sperm alive indefinitely in the queen's 

 body. 



Swarming for slave raids. — Wheeler (21) camped during the 

 summer of 1915 near Lake Tahoe in the Sierras in California. 

 His camp was situated at an altitude of from 6,000 to 7,000 

 feet. During the summer he had the opportunity of witnessing 

 several of the slave raids of the western Amazon ant (Polyergus 

 breviceps). The slave was always an ' ill-defined ' variety of 

 Formica fusca. Wheeler found that these raids always took 

 place between 3:00 P. M. and 5:30 P. M., on warm days, during 

 the 'after part of July. The Formica fusca colonies usually tried 

 to resist the Amazons by plugging up the nest entrances with 

 pellets of earth; in one case the fusca ants fought so valiantly 

 that the battle raged for 30 minutes and until most of the de- 

 fenders had been killed. Before starting on the raid, the brevi- 

 ceps ants came out of their holes and congregated about the 

 openings. Then at some indistinguishable signal they usually 

 hurried off greatly excited. Winged females were seen to ac- 

 company the workers and in some cases they entered the Fusca 

 nest but usually did not return with the pupa-laden workers. 



On one raid part of the army plundered a small nest and 

 returned home with the plunder, while most of the army went 

 on. In one attack where the Fusca ants defended vigorously, 

 part of the Amazon ants fought while others kept digging at 

 the earthen barricade which the Fusca ants had thrown up. 

 On this particular raid several dealated females were seen to 

 return with the workers but they carried no plunder. 



On July 30 the ants made no raid and the weather was cloudy 

 and much colder than on previous days. A number of winged 

 males were constantly coming to the opening of the nest but 

 most of them were dragged violently back by the Fusca slaves. 

 A few escaped and flew away. Wheeler says that the slaves 



