EXPERIMENTS ON ANTS. 81 



From August 6th to 10th we were at Chateau Queyras. ^^'e did 

 no climbing but spent our days in the valley and on the lower slopes of 

 the hills near the village. Erebia neorida.s occurred all round in small 

 numbers, all males and newly emerged. Klttgia spini was common, 

 with large fresh 5 s. Coenonynipha dorus seemed to be rare, for the 

 few I took of both sexes were quite good. There were no Vanessids 

 and hardly any Pierids. Hesperiids were not common. I got Hesperia 

 alveus and H. fritilliim, H. carthami and Powellia sao. Of the blues 

 Hirsutina damon and A(/riades coridon were abundant, Folyonniiatus 

 escheri was common with very fine 5 s, P. Iiylas was just coming out, 

 P. icarus and Alicia medon {cKjestis) were generally distributed. 

 An/i/nnis adippe was common and fine, as also was hsoria lathonia. 

 Melitaea didyuia, M. p/iaebe and worn M. atlialia were all of their 

 genus. Towards Abries Satyrus eordiila was common and many in 

 good order ; Epinephele lycaon was abundant everywhere. On August 

 10th I took two Xordmanma acaciae, a little past their prime. 



On August 11th we walked to Guillestre through the gorges of 

 the Guil Valley. Two miles below Chateau Queyras Erebia neoridaa 

 was common and when the valley opened out a little the butterfly 

 abounded on the lavender covered slopes. They constantly settled 

 on the hot rocks, and less frequently at the flowers. Near Guillestre 

 Hipparclna briseifi turned up again and Coenonynipha dorns. Between 

 that place and the station E/dnephele tithoniis was common. 



On our last day, August 12th, we spent a long morning at Clelles. 

 Butterflies were abundant. Satyrus circe was worn and 6\ alcyone 

 more so. Epinephele jurtina was in thousands. Ayriadea coridon was 

 much commoner than a fortnight before, with plenty of ? s. Melitaea 

 rinxia and .1/. parthenie, both second brood, were just coming out. 

 On the rough ground between the station and the viaduct Hipparchia 

 hrisei)i was common, males and females, and in fine order. Down by 

 the stream Erebia aethiops was just out, and E. neoridas on the edge of 

 the thickets above. 



So ended a month of sunshine snatched from perhaps the worst 

 English year since 1877 or 1878. Altogether we took, or identified 

 without taking, 108 species of butterflies. 



Experiments on the capability of Ants to withstand drought and 

 to recover from its effects when nearly dead. 



By C. C. BEST GABDNER. 



The following experiments were carried out in a room above the 

 kitchen, which is furnished with a ventilator leading into the chimney, 

 it is an exceedingly dry room. The windows and door were kept shut 

 and the fire was not lit during the experiments. The ants were first 

 placed in open upright test-tubes, which were too slippery for them to 

 climb, and were subsequently removed and placed in a damp plaster 

 nest, whilst there were still distinct signs of life. There were no other 

 ants in the nest, so that when they recovered they did so unaided. 

 Honey was placed in the nest. The ants used in the experiments were 

 taken at random from healthy nests. Each ant was placed in a 

 separate test-tube. 



General notes. — I find that a.ll the ants experimented on remained 

 apparently unchanged until within about twelve hours or less of the 



