PAIRING OF ANTS, 243 



allowed to move without a guard of workers to pre- 

 vent their leaving the boundaries, and if one straggles 

 away unawares, it is for the most part dragged 

 back by the vigilant sentinels, three or four of whom 

 may, in such cases, be seen hauling along a single 

 deserter by the wings and limbs. We have never 

 seen the delinquent offer the slightest resistance, nor 

 make any endeavour to escape, but always, on the 

 contrary, exhibiting as much eagerness as the guard 

 to regain the nearest gateway of the city. When a 

 colony, indeed, is exposed by removing the stone or 

 other covering which shelters them, the winged in- 

 habitants are always eager to conceal themselves in 

 the lower chambers, and in a few minutes none of 

 them are to be seen ; but even in such a case the 

 extreme jealousy of the workers is not contented 

 with any display of agility, and they always subject 

 them more or less to the dragging system. We 

 may mention that this is not one of those rare phe- 

 nomena which accident only brings under the eye 

 of the naturalist, as it may be always witnessed 

 whenever males and females are present in an ant- 

 hill ; and out of some hundreds which we have 

 visited within a few days (Formica flava, F. fusca^ 

 Sfc)j we saw what we have described in more 

 than two-thirds of the number.* We state this 

 more particularly, as it does not appear to be alto- 

 gether in accordance with the observations of Gould 

 and the younger Huber. 



^ Let us retire,' says the latter, ^ to a meadow 

 on a fine summer's day, at a time when they first 

 make use of their wings, and take a survey of their 

 habitation, on the surface of which we shall observe, 

 walking to and fro, many of its winged inhabitants. 

 These are the males and females of the field-ant : 

 they climb all the plants which surround their resi- 



* JR. 



