The Scottish Naturalist. 2 1 9 



immediately taken possession of by the workers, who collect 

 them into small heaps, moisten them with their mouths, and 

 move them about from one part of the nest to another, 

 according to the temperature they require. According to 

 the observations of De Geer*the workers even at times 

 brood over the eggs as if to impart additional heat. The 

 eggs of ants are said to increase in size between the time when 

 they are laid, and the time when they hatch. The eggs which 

 are to produce males, females, or workers, are supposed to be 

 laid at three different periods. After a few days the eggs hatch, 

 and the labours of the workers are considerably increased. Not 

 only have the larvae to be moved t from one part of the nest to 

 another, according to the time of day and temperature, but 

 they have to be constantly fed. The larvae are footless white 

 grubs, and are fed from the mouths of the -workers with a 

 viscid, half-digested fluid. At different ages the larvae seem to 

 require different strengths of food, the younger larvae requiring 

 a less substantial diet than the older ones. In addition to 

 feeding them, the workers have to keep the larvae clean, which 

 they do by passing their tongues and mandibles over them.J 

 After attaining its full size, the larva spins a silken cocoon, 

 in which it becomes a pupa, which is carried about by the 

 worker in the same manner as the egg and larva were. After 

 remaining a pupa for some time, the period at last comes 

 when the young ant is to arrive at the perfect state ; and it is 

 stated that the workers, becoming aware of this interesting 

 fact by some sense unknown to us, open the cocoon and extri- 

 cate with great tenderness the enclosed pupa. They then 

 remove the thin pellicle which covers the ant, assist in stretch- 

 ing the legs, and wings when present, feed their nursling, and 

 show it all the paths and galleries of the nest.§ I have reason 

 to believe, however, that, in some species, at least, the ant, on 

 arriving at the perfect state, is able to liberate itself from the 

 cocoon. 



Ants in the perfect state may belong to one of three groups 

 of individuals. They may be either males, females, or workers. 

 Individual's of the two first groups are furnished with two pair 

 of wings, and their sole use is to insure the continuance of 



* ii. 1099, f Huber 74. % Huber 78. § Huber 83. 



