FECUNDATION OF ANTS. 1238 
whose observations claim my greatest 
confidence, discovered, one day, in a little 
underground cavity, a female ant, living 
solitarily with four pups, of which she 
appeared to take great care. * 
* «Upon frequent opening of mole-hills,’’ says 
Gould, ‘‘ amongst them, I met with three, in each 
of which was a cluster of large female ants, amount. 
ing to six or seven ina cluster. They lay near the 
surface, but had no regular apartment. Upon ex- 
amining, and comparing them with a queen, there 
was an exact agreement in colour, form, and struc- 
ture. Upon dissection, several of them had parcels 
of eggs in their insides. I deposited one of the 
clusters in a box with some earth, under which they 
concealed themselves, and united together, but did 
not work any lodgement. Sometime after, three 
or four of these females laid a few eggs, but did not 
seem to take any great notice of them. For cu- 
riosity, I placed in the box a cell of workers of the 
same species ; and it was surprising to observe what 
fondness was expressed. The common ants imme- 
diately surrounded the females, took care of the 
eggs, and, in a short period, made an apartment in 
the earth fit to receive them. It may also be ob- 
served that there were no common ants in the hills 
where I found the above clusters. In all probability 
they were originally large ant-flies, which, having 
been expelled their colonies, and not falling victims 
to their adversaries, associated together in this man- 
ner, and survived the winter.’’ — There is no doubt 
G @ 
