HARVESTING ANTS. 169 



but one, and this one {Car ex distatis) retains its fruits 

 till late in the autumn. Among other spring-flowering 

 plants common near the nests, the seeds of which are also 

 absent, I may mention violets {Viola odorata), poppies, 

 [Pajjaver), certain species of Veronica, Heliauthemum 

 guttatum, Silene quinqiie-vidnera and Flanfago Bellardi. 

 Here a curious question arises — viz., What becomes 

 of the large stores of seeds which one may still find 

 in the nests in May, when the ants are busy pouring 

 fresh supplies into the nest ? The answer probably is, 

 that, as the weather becomes warmer, ever-increasing 

 calls are made by the larvse upon the food-resources 

 of the nest, and that old and new seeds rapidly dis- 

 appear together, and all the energy and activity of 

 the colony is needed to meet the increased demand. 



Still, it would be interesting, if it were possible, 

 to assure oneself whether this is the case ; that 

 is to say, whether the residue of the winter 

 stores is really consumed during the summer, or 

 whether a portion of it remains in the granaries until 

 the following autumn. One might perhaps learn 

 something as to this if one had an opportunit}^ of 

 opening a nest late in July, and before the charac- 

 teristic autumn-fruiting plants had set their seed. 

 If the granaries were then principally filled with seeds 

 of spring-fruiting plants, and the winter seeds were 

 almost or entirely absent, this would afibrd tolerably 

 good negative evidence in favour of the latter having 

 been eaten during the summer. 



One thing is certain, and that is, that these harvesting 

 ants do not habitually abandon their nests every year. 

 On the contrary, while many swarms leave the nests at 

 different seasons, a portion of the original colony, or 



