2% HARVESTING ANTS. 



of which show that they were once parts of seeds, &c. . 

 the albuminous contents of which had been extracted 

 through holes gnawed in the side, — that gave me the 

 conviction that large stores of seed must lie hidden 

 below in the nest ; for if it were true, as some have 

 suggested, that the ants employ the grain and seeds 

 which they collect as materials for the construction of 

 their nest, they would certainly not reject such parts 

 as the chaff of grasses and the like, which are admirably 

 suited for the purpose, and are actually used for this 

 end by other species of ants. 



It was therefore with the greatest confidence as to 

 the result that I opened the nests of Atfa harhara in 

 search of granaries and seeds. My first attempt was 

 made upon a nest lying in a hollow where there was 

 a rather deep bed of soil, and the galleries extended 

 so far on either side and in a downward direction tbat, 

 though I removed enough soil to fill a wheelbarrow, 

 I failed to reach the arcana of the nest, and saw neither 

 chambers nor granaries. 



Yet I frequently encountered workers carrying seeds 

 downwards along the subterranean passages. I then 

 selected a nest where the coarse and hard rock lay 

 much nearer to the surface, barring their downward 

 course, and compelling the ants to extend their nest in 

 a horizontal direction. 



Here, almost at the first stroke, I came upon large 

 masses of seeds carefully stored in chambers prepared 

 in the soil. Some of tliese lay in long subcylindrical 

 galleries, and, owing to the presence in large quantities 

 of the black shining seeds of amaranth {Amaranihis 

 Biitum, &c.), looked like trains of gunpowder laid 

 ready for blasting. Fig. A, Plate II. represents a trowel- 



