44 



empty chamber he placed an old F. rufa female from Nethy 

 Bridge, Scotland. After a few days to allow the female to get 

 rid of her "nest aura," as would be the case in nature, the 

 barrier was removed. Several workers entered her compart- 

 ment, and she repeatedly entered their compartment and returned, 

 at first avoiding the workers. On February 2nd she was attacked, 

 but regained her own compartment, which now contained five 

 workers. The barrier was then replaced, leaving the female 

 with the five workers. Next day she was attacked and killed 

 one persistent worker, after first attempting to conciliate it. 

 The remaining workers appeared more friendly, and later one 

 fed the female. Other workers were now allowed to enter, 

 which the female stroked with her antennae. On February 6th, 

 however, she was again attacked by one, which she killed. The 

 other workers were then introduced gradually, only one attacking 

 her and being killed. B}^ February 9th all the workers had 

 been introduced and were quite friendly. Later she was again 

 fed by a worker and was clearly adopted. On March ist she 

 laid eggs, which came to maturity on June 20th, The callow 

 workers, however, were cripples. The larvae and eggs had been 

 attended to by the F. fusco-rufiharbis workers. She laid again 

 on November 20th, and again on July 27th, 191 1. On August i6th, 

 191 1, over twenty pupae were present, five of which hatched on 

 September 25th, when there were over thirty pupae. All these 

 pupae hatched by November ist and were perfect, though small, 

 F. rufa workers. The F. rufa female, having lived in the nest 

 for nearly two years, died on October 5th, from what cause is 

 unknown, but it was certainly not through attacks by the F. 

 fusco-rufibarbis workers. On March 29th, 1912, an old F. rufa 

 queen from Weybridge was introduced to this colony. She was 

 considerably attacked by the F. fusco-rufibarbis workers, but only 

 slightly by the small F. rufa workers. She killed two of the 

 former, and on the 21st she was quite at home in the nest. She 

 laid eggs which were tended by the F. fusco-rufibarbis workers, 

 and became larvae. This female died on April 5th, and her 

 larvae were eventually devoured by the workers. 



The next experiment shows how, when there is a F. fusca 

 female present, she may be got rid of. On April 17th, 1910, 

 DONISTHORPE had a small colony of F. fusca with three females 



