1879.] on the Hahits of Ants. Ill 



Linccciim that the disks arc kcjit carefully clean, that the ant rice 

 alone is perniitted to grow on them, and that the produce of this crop 

 is carefully harvested ; but he thinks that the ant rice sows itself, and 

 is not actually cultivated by the ants. I have myself observed in 

 Algeria, that some species of plants are allowed by the ants to grow 

 on their nests. 



But though our English ants do not actually store up provisions, 

 they show a considerable amount of prudence and foresight in other 

 ways. If you examine almost any ants' nest, you will find, besides the 

 ants, a larger or smaller number of other insects ; the quantity varying 

 according to the season, the species of ant, and other circumstances. 

 Of course association in some cases is purely accidental and without 

 significance. In a large number of instances, however, this is by no 

 means the case, and Mr. Andre gives a list of no less than 584 species 

 of insects which are habitually found in association with ants. 



In some of them no doubt the bond of union is merely the selec- 

 tion of similar j^^aces of abode ; in some few others the ants are vic- 

 timized by parasites of which they cannot rid themselves. There is for 

 instance a small black fly, belonging to the genus Pliora, which lays 

 her eggs on ants. Again I have already mentioned the mites which 

 live parasitically on ants. Then there are some insects, such as the 

 caterpillar of that beautiful beetle, the rosechafer, which find a con- 

 genial place of residence among the collection of bits of stick, &c., 

 of which certain species of ants make their nests. 



Another class of ant guests are those which reside actually in the 

 galleries and chambers of, and with, the ants, but which the latter 

 never touch. Of these the commonest in England are a species 

 allied to Podura, for which I have proposed the name Beckia. It is 

 an active bustling little being, and I have kept hundreds, I may 

 say thousands, in my nests. They run about in and out among the 

 ants, keeping their antennae in a perpetual state of vibration. Another 

 very common species is a sort of white woodlouse, which enjoys the 

 rather long name of PlatyartJirus Hoffmanseggii. It also runs about, 

 and is evidently at home, among the ants. Both of these species from 

 living constantly in the dark have become blind; I say "have 

 become," because their ancestors no doubt had eyes. Now in neither 

 of these cases have I ever seen an ant take the slightest notice of 

 either of these insects. One might almost imagine they had the cap 

 of invisibility. 



It is, however, certain that the ants intentionally (if I may so 

 say) sanction the residence of these insects in their nests. An unau- 

 thorized interloper would be at once killed. I have therefore 

 ventured to suggest that these insects may perhaps act as scavengers. 



A still more interesting case is afforded by the relations existing 

 between the ants and aphides, which have been justly called the cows 

 of the ants. The latter secrete a sweet juice of which the ants arc 

 very fond, and the ants may constantly be seen running up trees and 

 plants, on which the aphides live, in search of this nutritious food. 



