WITH THE PUCERONS. 237 
the leaves; they afterwards excavate 
the ground, to have more room to ap- 
proach these insects, and pass from 
thence to their habitation, by covered 
galleries. 
5. Resources of the Ants during Winter. 
I am naturally led to speak in this 
place, of the manner in which ants sub-. 
sist in winter, since we have relinquished 
the opinion that they amass wheat and 
other grain, and that they gnaw the corn 
to hinder it from germinating. We have 
endeavoured to explain their preserv- 
ation, by supposing them to fall into a ~ 
state of torpor at this period. ‘They, in 
fact, become torpid during the intense 
cold, but when the season is not very 
severe, the depth of their nest guards 
them from the effects of the frost: they 
do not become torpid, unless the tempe- 
rature is reduced to the second degree 
of Reaumur under the freezing point, 
(27° Fahrenheit.) I have occasionally 
seen them walking upon the snow, en-. 
