OiBSERVATIONS ON ANTS. 167 



I mixed a little Benger's food (half an egg cup 

 full), and at first fed each individual by means of a 

 finely cut straw, but when a number of hungry little 

 babies had to be fed, it was surprising how long it 

 took to satisfy their hunger. So I tried another 

 plan. I took a number of pieces of wool, about 

 I inch, a piece for each larva, and the ends of these 

 pieces were dipped in the food. A strand of the 

 wool was then placed near each larva in such a 

 position as it could easily be sucked by the larva, 

 should it want to do so. This acted very well, 

 and the larvae flourished on their artificial food, pu- 

 pated, and later emerged as perfect ants. 



Observations, Case 3. — Ant Polyrhachis animon- 

 Locality Obtained — Paddington. 



I collected ten winged ants (females), two work- 

 ers, and ten pupcC. I placed them with another 

 set of Polyrhachis amnion- During the first day of 

 this addition to the nest, the ants were quiet; on 

 the second day, I observed a bustling in the nest, 

 and the workers seemed to be clearing it up — they 

 were gathering up pupa^, and putting them into one 

 corner, changing the position of the actual nest. 

 They threw out a few little stones, sticks, and 

 crumbs, that were in the nest, tossing them into the 

 water below. Durino- this time, the winded ants 

 remained stationary, standing over some of the 

 pupee. and when the ]3up3e were moved they walked 

 over to them, and seemed to be intent on sheltering 

 them. If a winged ant wandered, it was promptly 

 brought back again, and placed well among the 



