EGG-LAYING OF VANESSA UKTIC^E, L. 43 



Doubting no longer that the eggs would be duly laid, I noted 

 the time, 11.40 a.m., and van to get my net in order to capture the 

 specimen when it had finished laying. After about five minutes I 

 returned, and found the butterfly still in the same position as before. 

 Then I stood ready with my net — but half-an-hour went by, it was 

 past twelve o'clock, and the insect had not stirred from its position. 

 Ten minutes later things were the same. Then, suddenly, just as I 

 was noting the time once more, I felt something flap against my 

 cheek and looked up, only to find the nettle-leaf empty and to see the 

 butterfly, which had first darted straight into my face, rapidly 

 disappearing on the other side of the high barbed wire fencing and 

 quite out of reach. I did not mourn my lost capture long, however, 

 but immediately examined the nettle leaf, on which it had rested. I 

 found to my delight a fine batch of green ova, the laying of 

 which evidently occupied 43 minutes — from 11.40 a.m. to 12.23 p.m. 

 under the existing weather conditions.! Left out among the nettles, 

 the ova would have been subjected to natural temperature-variation 

 ranging from 7°C.-10"C. at night, to 30°C.-3&°C. during the hottest 

 hours of the day (the temperatures were measured by me under the 

 nettle leaves), but I took the ova home and subjected them to a 

 temperature of 30°C.-37°C. night and day, with the result that they 

 •emerged on the 14th between 4 and 5 a.m. (after three days and 16- 

 17 hours). The larvte and pup^e were also kept in temperatures not 

 below 23°C., but most of the former succumbed to " flacherie," and I 

 only reared five imagines, which, however, as I had hoped, reminded 

 jne of the Corsican var. ichntisa. 



How ants greet members of the same colony. 



By W. CECIL CRAWLEY, F.E.S. 



[Foreword. — The following paper is the first of a series of jDapers and 

 notes by my friend Mr. Cecil Crawdey, which we hope to publish from time 

 to time on the habits of ants and their guests. Mr. Crawdey has been 

 working at ants for over fifteen years quite independently, and has 

 amassed a number of valuable facts and observations, many of them 

 entirely new and others very valuable, as they help to confirm some of 

 the modern views on the subject. We therefore think ourselves 

 fortunate in persuading him to put them into print. — Horace 



DoNISTHORPE.] 



When two ants from the same colony meet, they usually cross 



the cluster of empty eggshells. They do not stop long for this, however, but 

 wander (in the wild state !) almost immediately up higher and into the nettle-top, 

 where they spin up and create the impression of having hatched there*. But the 

 young i( ;(icae larvffi do not "hatch in the nettle-buds"; the empty shells, from 

 which they emerged, are never to be found there, but nearly always on the under- 

 side of one of the larger leaves lower down on one of the nettle-plants. I was 

 surprised to find that last season, from May 2'6vd to the end of September, I 

 could continuously collect fully-grown and newly-hatched larva) of this species 

 seemingly without any break whatever. 



t The days from August 5th-18th, were among the warmest on record since 

 early September, 1901). The shade maxima here were always above 70'^F., and, on 

 five days, the thermometer stood over 80°F., and twice reached nearly 90^ (31°C. 

 in the shade on the 1.3th). At night, the thermometer fell to 47-5°F. on the 5th 

 and 18th (on the 4th it had been down to 42°F.). The warmest night was that of 

 the 17th with 59°F. 



