■ AMERICAN IIYMENOPTERA. J < O 



pass on. Its abdonieu appeurs flattened. 3Iany of its i'ellows are 

 rouiMled out with fullness, and must evidently be uncomfortable. The 

 ants, however, arc fast relieving them, and in the meantime, their own 

 abdomens are underiioinj!; a very noticeable chauiic. 1'hey swell and 

 elongate, until the ioldod bands which unite the several segments or 

 rings are pulled out from their V shape into a straight white ribbon. 

 The abdomens are quite translucent at last, and the burdened honey- 

 gatherers turn toward home. Let us for convenience, call the ants in 

 this condition, " replete'*." Standing at the foot of the tree one can 

 notice that the individuals in the ascending portion of the column 

 have round black abdomens, while those in the descending pm-tion 

 are nearly all repletes. 



There were two facts connected with the above observations, which 

 for several days puzzled nie. I observed that among the crowds of 

 workers thronging the avenues radiating from the hills to various 

 points, chiefly oak trees, the number of repletes was relatively small. 

 It seemed out of proportion to the numbers of repletes seen descend- 

 ing the tree-paths from feeding grounds, with abdomens distended and 

 translucent with honey-dew. Moreover, numbers of workers were ob- 

 served returning to the hills without swollen abdomens. If they had 

 not been foraging, what then ? Or had they simply been more moder- 

 ate in the indulgence of appetite? I was led by these reflections to 

 follow the repletes down the tree-paths with greater care, and observed 

 some of them disappearing at the roots. I now turned back the sod, 

 cleared away the leaves, and observed this interesting I'act : At the 

 foot of the tree, particularly in the angle of the roots, the descending 

 ants or repletes were stopjied by workers seeking food, " pensioners" 

 let us call them. Evidently a gallery or galleries communicating with 

 the hill had been opened at these points, and around the openings 

 numbers of insects were huddled together, some trying to escape down 

 the galleries, some opposing or hindering these, and others engaged in 

 drawing or bestowing rations of honey-dew. The process was com- 

 monly as follows: 'I'he replete reared upon her hind legs and placed 

 her mouth to the mouth of the pensioner who assumed the same ram- 

 pant position. Thus the meal passed. Of course I could not see the 

 process of disgorgement, but could have no doubt of the fact that the 

 builders had thus come to be fed in the same manner that queens, 

 males and young ants are fed. I frequently saw two, sometimes three 

 ants thus feeding at once from one replete. The repletes commonly 

 made no objections, at least submitted quietly; but at times I noticed 



