102 BRITISH APHIDES. 



but they do more, for they keep during six months the 

 eggs which will enable them to procure food during 

 the following summer.* 



The veteran entomologists Kirby and Spence, who 

 noted also the occurrence of Aphides in ant-hills, 

 decidedly endorse the theory that " they are a provision 

 to sustain the lives of their captors during their half- 

 torpid condition until early spring. By an admirable 

 provision these Aphides awake out of their torpor and 

 at the same period the ants also awake. "f 



Again they say, " Formica flava receives almost the 

 whole nutriment, both of themselves and their larvas, 

 from Aphides " ; and that the prosperity and wealth of 

 communities are in proportion to the number of their 

 cattle. Here they follow Huber, who says that an ants' 

 nest is more or less rich according to its stock of what 

 he calls their " cows and goats." $ 



As before noticed, imagination may not be banished 

 from science, yet caution is needed lest science should 

 drift into fancy, or foster a more popular taste for 

 description. Entomology is peculiarly liable to suffer 

 from a florid style in the hands of those who write to 

 amuse as well as to inform their readers. 



I would ask attention to the following considera- 

 tions before committing ourselves to any theory of 

 Paracletism. 



1. Many species of ants are partial to honey and the 

 sweet secretions of insects, but it has not yet been 

 satisfactorily shown that any Ant is dependent on 

 Aphides for its exclusive support. 



2. Some species of Aphis feed on roots which often 

 intersect ant-nests, but most ant-hills are destitute of 

 Aphides. 



3. The roots of many grasses growing in light soils 



* Sir J. Lubbock, 'Journ. Lin. Soc.,' vol. xiv, p. 610; and 1880, vol. 

 xv. p. 182. 



f Kirby and Spence, ' Introd. to Entom.,' vol. ii, p. 349 (1843). 



X Germar, ' Mag. der Entom.,' iii, t. 2; also vide Boisier do Sauvagcs, 

 ' Journ. de Physique,' torn, i, p. l'J5, " On the Relations between Ants 

 and Aphides. 



