AGRICULTURAL ANTS. CI 



to October. On one occasion he even observed the 

 ants bringing up their stores of grain to dry them 

 after the closing thunderstorms of the monsoon ; an 

 observation which has been since confirmed by other 

 naturalists. 



It is now known that harvesting ants occur in the 

 warmer part of Europe, where their habits have been 

 observed with care, especially by Moggridge and Lespes. 

 It does not yet seem quite clear in what manner the 

 ants prevent the grains from germinating. Moggridge 

 found that if the ants were j^revented from entering 

 the granaries, the seeds began to sprout, and that this 

 was also the case in deserted granaries. It would ap- 

 pear therefore that the power of germination was not 

 destroyed. 



On the other hand, Lespes confirms the statement 

 long ago made by Pliny that the ants gnaw ofi" the 

 radicle, while Forel asserts that Atta structor allows 

 the seeds in its granaries to commence the process of 

 germination for the sake of the sugar. 



A Texan ant, Pogonomymex harbatus, is also a 

 harvesting species, storing up especially the grains of 

 Aristida oligantha, the so-called ' ant rice,' and of a 

 grass, Buchlce dactyloides. These ants clear disks, ten 

 or twelve feet in diameter, round the entrance to their 

 nest, a work of no small labour in the rich soil, and 

 under the hot sun, of Texas. I say ' clear disks,' but 

 some, though not all, of these disks are occupied, espe- 

 cially round the edge, by a growth of ant rice. These 



