424 



Colony 27b — Concluded 



I was compelled to neglect the colony for a time. September 

 25, the nest contained 16 workers and 12 larvce (the latter in poor 

 condition); September 28, 5 eggs and 16 workers; and October 5, 

 2 larvae and 16 workers. 



This colony, consisting of the queen, 2 larvcT, and 16 workers, re- 

 mained the same up to November 17, when I found one of the work- 

 ers dead. By November 16 the weather had become much colder, and 

 during the rest of the winter the ants remained in a dormant condi- 

 tion. Owing to the fact that conditions were not just right, or that 

 the ants were not in the best physiological condition to enter hiberna- 

 tion, the latter did not survive the winter. 



An examination of the above data shows that up to September i, 

 this queen had laid 222 eggs; that but 27 adults were reared from 

 them; that but 3 adults died, one because I had injured it; that 

 4 individuals died or disappeared in the pupal stage, 42 in the larval 

 stage, and 109 in the tgg stage. Whatever may have been the cause 

 of the dying of the larvae and pupae, I am sure that at least a large 

 percentage of the eggs was eaten, because many times I found eggs 

 in the nest that had been partly eaten. 



