64G 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF 



[Sept., 



Queens and workers deprived of a pair of legs, the amputation being 

 made at the coxal joint (see figure), lived in groups as amicably as 

 do whole ants, and there was little loss of life through this operation. 



The delicate structure of the leg 

 manifestly renders it a probable com- 

 municator of vibration from any solid 

 with which it might be in contact. 



There was throughout a direct 

 ratio between the degree of irritabil- 

 it}^ produced and the percentage of 

 deaths conseciucnt upon the surgical 

 operations. The operations were as 

 far as possible carried out asepti- 

 cally and careful nursing was at- 

 tempted for all cases. 



The mutilated ants wTre tested 

 in Petri dishes, first by scratching 

 together in the air the edges of two 

 Petri dishes to ascertain whether 

 the ants were stimulated by air vibra- 

 tions, and next by gently scratching 

 the edge of the dish in which the ants 

 were. As might be expected, no 

 reaction was ever obtained from 

 mutilated ants submitted to air 

 vibrations. The reaction of the ants 

 to the vibrations of the dish con- 

 taining them and the states of the 

 ants, so far as the operations that 

 they had undergone were concerned, 

 are given in the following summary : 



1 . Queens from which both f unicles 

 had been removed reacted by slight 

 locomotion, usually moving back- 

 ward or sidewise, rarely forward. 



2. Queens from which one antenna 

 had been removed reacted like 

 normal queens by forward, back- 

 ward or sidewise locomotion. 



3. Queens deprived of the whole of 

 both antennae reacted by moving 

 backward or sidewise. 



Prothoracic leg of a young Stcnamma 

 fidvum piceum. X 48. 



