PERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 93 



tion of a rufescent colony is going forward, the negroes 

 are seen carrying their masters ; and the contrast of the 

 red with the black renders it peculiarly striking. The 

 little turf-ants {F. ccespitum, L.) upon these occasions 

 carry tlieir recruits uncoiled, with their head down- 

 wards and their body in the air. 



This extraordinary scene continues several days; 

 but when all the neuters are acquainted with the road 

 to the new city, the recruiting ceases. As soon as a 

 sufficient number of apartments to contain them are 

 prepared, the young brood, with the males and females, 

 are conveyed thither, and the whole business is con- 

 cluded. When the spot thus selected for their resi- 

 dence is at a considerable distance from the old nest, 

 the ants construct some intermediate receptacles, re- 

 sembling small ant-hills, consisting of a cavity filled 

 with fragments of straw and other materials, in which 

 they form several cells ; and here at first they deposit 

 their recruits, males, females, and brood, which they 

 afterwards conduct to the final settlement. These ia- 

 lermediate stations sometimes become permanent nests, 

 which however maintain a connection with the capital 

 city^. 



While the recruiting is proceeding, it appears to oc- 

 casion no sensation in the original nest ; all goes on in 

 it as usual, and the ants that are not yet recruited pur- 

 sue their ordinary occupations : whence it is evident 

 that the change of station is not an enterprise under- 



■ Walking one day early in July this summer (1S15) in a spot where 

 I used to notice a single nest of Formica rufa, I observed that a newco- 

 li>ny had been formed of considerable magnitude; and between it and 

 the original nest were six or seven smaller settlements. 



