A KEWAKKABLK MAKRIAGE-FLKiH T OF ANTS. 205 



ciiiestis = )iu'(lon is very fully shown, and also various species of TlwHor 

 and Cii/cu itis. Several Argynnids, some skippers, and a remarkable 

 aberration of Sati/nis lidia complete the imagines, with the exception 

 of three plates of Celerio t'li/i/iorhiac-iiniiirctdnica and some exotic 

 Papilios. 



The fourteen plates of Powell's drawings of larva;, pupaj, &c., show 

 skippers, geometers, hlariaa, Soniabracln/s, Xoctiia, Lasiocaiupa, Leinonia, 

 Zi/i/aena, Sec, those illustrating S. fatiiia already alluded to, and the 

 greater part of four rather full plates of Satyrids seem of especial 

 interest.— T.A.C. 



A remarkable Marriage-flight of Ants and some Theories. 



By W. C. CRAWLEY, B.A., F.E.S. 



On August 8th last there took place at Weybridge, Walton-on- 

 Thames, Hersham, and probably all over the county, the largest 

 marriage-tlight of ants of the genus Lasius (or I hDii^t/wipea) that I 

 have ever witnessed. At Walton it began at about 3.30 p.m., and 

 probably in some districts was continued during the following day, as 

 on the 9th I found hundreds of /.. nii/er winged $ $ on Westminstei' 

 Bridge. The three species concerned were L. nvjer, L. fiavus, and L. 

 Knibratiis, the first two predominating (there was also a flight of 

 Mijniiica scabrinodis, but we are not directly concerned with this). 

 The $ $ , both winged and deiilated, covered every road and path for 

 miles around, and on a piece of waste ground about 50 yards square 

 there were four to six ants on every square foot. 



In the case of La.siiis nit/er and Lasins fianis the usual procedure 

 was, after the S J and y J had joined on the ground, for the 2 9 

 to tiy up carrying the 3 S and circle round for a few minutes. Then 

 couiiyg to the ground, where the J J released the ? $ and flew 

 right away, the latter removed their ^Nings, using the legs to push 

 them forward, until they dropped ofi'. The /.. nit/er $ $ on rising 

 into the air make a deep buzz not unlike that of a wasp. The 

 dealated 2 2 always avoided each other, and many sought out holes 

 in the ground, where they disappeared, their presence being betrayed 

 the next day by little craters of sand. Wherever there was a nest of 

 fjusiiia nnjer the ^ ^ came out in swarms, capturing and killing the 

 deiilated 2 $ of all three species, principally I ais/ks jlanis and I., niin'r, 

 the latter presumably both strangers and friends (as 1 have shown 

 experimentally). The stronger and more active innbratKs 2 2 more 

 often ran the gauntlet in safety, and it is to the behaviour of these 

 latter, whose parasitic habits on )ii(fer are well known, that I wish to 

 draw attention. 



In recording the observations and experiments (1895-1912) which 

 established the habits of Lasiua umbratus $2,1 repeatedly noted that 

 the newly depilated 2 2 are frequently found carrying dead Lasius 

 nii/fi- ^ ^ , and when one is confined with a live ^ she generally kills 

 and devours it, but is friendly to any others that are subsequently 

 introduced. Now out of several hundred uinbratiis 2 2 observed on 

 August 8th, at least 50% carried a dead iiii/er 5 (one carried a J ). 

 On many occasions I watched 2 2 capture and kill their ? ? . That 

 the dead § was of importance to the 2 i« clear from the fact that 

 when harried, and even when picked up with forceps, the 2 still held 



