6 STAGES IN THE LIFE OF ANTS— EGGS. 



keep a few alive by themselves in captivity, and at any 

 rate their habits under such circumstances are entirely 

 altered. If, on the other hand, a whole community 

 is kept, then the greater number introduces a fresh 

 element of difficulty and complexity. Moreover, within 

 the same species, the individuals seem to differ in 

 character, and even the same individual will behave 

 very differently under different circumstances. Al- 

 though, then, ants have attracted the attention of many 

 of the older naturalists, — Gould, De Geer, Reaumur,. 

 Swammerdam, Latreille, Leuwenhoeck, Huber, — and 

 have recently been the object of interesting obser- 

 vations by Frederick Smith, Belt, Moggridge, Bates^ 

 Mayr, Emery, Forel, McCook, and others, they still 

 present one of the most promising fields for observation 

 and experiment. 



The life of an ant falls into four well-marked 

 periods — those of the egg, of the larva or grub, of the^ 

 pupa or chrysalis, and of the perfect insect or imago. 

 The eggs are white or yellowish, and somewhat elon- 

 gated. They are said to hatch about fifteen days after 

 being laid. Those observed by me have taken a month 

 or six weeks. 



The larvae of ants (PL V. fig. 3), like those of bees 

 and wasps, are small, white, legless grubs, somewhat 

 conical in form, being narrow towards the head. 

 They are carefully tended and fed, being carried about 

 from chamber to chamber by the workers, probably in 

 order to secure the most suitable amount of warmth 



