45 



from Darenth Wood in a f oar-chambered Janet nest. An old 

 F. rufa queen from Wellington College was placed in the fourth 

 chamber, the F. fusca colony then occupying the second. Next 

 morning the F. rufa female was in the lirst chamber, past the 

 F. fusca colony, with three workers, and was not being attacked. 

 During the day she was attacked by three other workers, wliich 

 she tried to conciliate. Another dragged her into the second 

 chamber by the jaws, where she was accepted by the remaining 

 F. fusca workers. 



On June ist one of the F. fusca females was found bitten 

 in two. Though this action was not actually witnessed, there 

 is httle doubt that it was the work of the F. rufa female. 

 Later there were eggs in the nest, but it was impossible to say 

 whether the F. rufa female had laid any of them. On June 

 20th the F. rufa female died, but not from violence. Up to 

 November 26th the abdomen of the dead F. rufa female was 

 carried about by one of the workers. It apjxars that for a 

 time, at any rate, the F. rufa and F. fusca females mav live 

 amicably together. 



On May 6th, 1911, Donisthorpe introduced an old F. rufa 

 female from Wellington College into a F. fusca nest from Porlock. 

 She was attacked, and as usual tried to conciliate her assailants. 

 Eventually she killed one of the more persistent workers, and 

 by May 13th she was deñnitely accepted, and used to sit together 

 with the two F. fusca females belonging to the nest, but made 

 no attack on them. In July she unfortunately died. It might, 

 perhaps, be possible for a F. rufa and F. fusca female to join 

 together to found a colony (as suggested by Viehmeyer for 

 F. sanguínea and F. fusca). 



Donisthorpe has made some experiments on this point, in 

 one of which a F. rufa, a F. fusca, and a F. sanguínea female were 

 placed together on July 22nd, 191 1, but on July 23rd the F. 

 fusca female actuall)' killed the F. rufa female. Again, on 

 March 29th, 1912, a F. rufa female from W'eybridge was intro- 

 duced to two Irish F. fusca females in a small plaster nest. 

 She was attacked by them, and one pursued her persistently. 

 On March 30th all three females were sitting together. On 

 March 31st the F. rufa female and one of the F. fusca females 

 were stroking each other with lluir antcnnic and feet and feeding 



