HARVESTING ANTS. 51 



true harvesting ant, and not merely a casual collector of" 

 seeds. Of the habits o^ P//cidoIe paUldida, a very closely 

 allied and similar species, but one less frequently met 

 with, I cannot speak with certainty, though it is 

 quite possible that it also may be a true harvester, in 

 which case it would add a fifth species to this class. 



Both Pheidole megacephcda and Ph. paUidula appear 

 to remain inactive, or nearly so, during the mouths 

 from November to April, and it is probable that they 

 are only to be seen in full activity during the sum- 

 mer when I am not there to watch them. 



There can be little doubt that any naturalist who 

 will take the pains to note the habits of ants on the 

 shores of the Mediterranean through June, July, 

 August, and September, might collect a most inte- 

 resting series of observations on harvesting and other 

 species, and add to, and perhaps modify, those 

 which my limited opportunities have enabled me to 

 make. 



There are three other ants* — namely, Formica emar- 

 glnata, F.faaca, and Myrmica caspitmn, which may also 

 occasionally be found carrying a few seeds, but this is 

 tlie rare exception, as far as my experience goes, 

 these species living on honey dew, sweet secretions, 

 and animal matter, like the great majority of ants all 

 over the world. I have never found seeds in the 

 nests of any ants except those of Atta harbara and 

 A. slrudor, though I have carefully searched for them 

 in most of the nests of the sixteen species of ants 

 whose habits I have watched. 



* For some details of the habits of the sixteen species of ants observed on 

 the Riviera, see Appeudix A. 



E 2 



