30 



were laid. The ants and brood were then transferred to a two- 

 chambered plaster nest and given honey, which the workers and 

 females drank. This was, of course, the first food the females 

 had taken since their flight. 



On September loth the brood had been removed to one 

 corner of the chamber occupied by all the ants, and one female, 



A, with several workers, was standing over it. At the other 

 end of the chamber the two other females, B and C, were engaged 

 in a furious combat. While they were being observed with a 

 lens, C received a drop of formic acid and immediately collapsed. 

 The whole of the time they were observed to fight, workers were 

 attacking both, and judging from the final result, it would seem 

 that the workers had the instinct to perceive which of the three 

 was the fittest, viz. A, and were attacking the other two, as they 

 had done in the previous experiment. The victorious female, 



B, after the collapse of her rival, became greatly excited, and 

 kept making journeys to the other end of the chamber, touching 

 A with her antennae, and then returning to bite the moribund 

 female C. The workers meanwhile were occupied in dragging 

 about the body of C, and attacking B. Later, however, a worker 

 was seen to feed B. One hesitates to suggest that this friendly 

 worker was one of her own offspring. Throughout all this tumult 

 A remained motionless on the brood and assisted a callow to 

 emerge. B several times during the evening crossed antennae 

 with A, and the last observation that night showed both females 

 together and apparently on good terms. Next day at 11.30 

 a.m. they still seemed friendly, though B was agitated, and A 

 quiet as before. Tn the afternoon B was attacked by some 

 workers, and again in the evening by eight, who almost suc- 

 ceeded in pinioning her. She endeavoured to conciliate them 

 by stroking them with her antennae. 



Finally, at 6.19 p.m., A left her corner, met B, and began 

 to fight with her. B attempted to poison A, but both rolled 

 over and separated, A having one fore-leg damaged. B was 

 then pinioned by workers, and two others attacked A, for the 

 first time. At 6.48 p.m. A went up to B, who was now free 

 of workers, seized her by an antenna, and then by a leg : the 

 two ants rolled over and struggled for some time, until A dis- 

 engaged herself and retired to her corner, leaving B dying. 



