HARVESTING ANTS. 29 



have been told that this is the ease by my friend Dr. 

 Bornet, who complains of the depredations committed 

 by the ants in the gardens of the Villa Thuret, at 

 Antibes. They go so far as to plunder the seed bags 

 which are hung from the branches of the trees and 

 shrubs, unless these are securely closed and tied with 

 string ; they carry off wholesale the grass and anemone 

 seeds,* which are scattered when the lawns are resown ; 

 and Dr. Bornet has seen the seeds of Acacia refinoides 

 lie heaped up by the handful at the entrances of their 

 nests, and disappear below after a few hours. 



M. Germain de St. Pierre has observed similar facts 

 at Hyeres, where he has detected large stores of cereals 

 in the granaries of the ants, and considers that the 

 robberies committed by these creatures are suflBcient 

 in extent to cause a serious loss to cultivators. 



It is difficult to estimate the amount of seed stored 

 in a single nest by a colony of ants both on account 

 of the extent of these nests, and because of the number 

 of seeds which are always lost in digging. The nests 

 themselves also vary greatly in size. Perhaps I shall 

 not be very far from the mark however, if I conjecture 

 that average-sized nests contain during the winter 

 months about half a pint of seeds. 



Atta structor is more frequently found near houses 

 and in gardens than A. harhara, the latter usually 

 living on wild ground adjoining cultivation. There 

 was a flourishing colony oi structor in the main street 

 of Mentone, cleverly placed at the lintel of the door of 

 a corn chandler's store, where they were ever on the 

 look out for stray grains of oats and wheat, which 



* Properly grass grain and anemone achenes. 



