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ABSTRACT OF A PAPER 



READ BY 



J. H. HARVEY, Esq., 



ON 



"ANTS," 

 26th MARCH, 1884. 



Ants, like bees, have for a long time been held up as 

 patterns of industry, and even in Grecian mythology their 

 merits are noticed. Our knowledge of ants is by no means 

 restricted to historical times, for several species have been 

 found in the tertiary beds of Geningen, and many also 

 encased in amber. 



In common with all other insects, ants pass through three 

 stages of development before arriving at the "imago" or 

 perfect insect, viz., the ^g%, larva or grub, and the pupa or 

 chrysalis from which at last emerges the fully-grown ant. 

 The eggs are white or yellowish and somewhat elongated 

 and are not glued to anything when laid. Some say that 

 they are hatched in about 15 days, whilst others have 

 noticed that they take a month or six weeks ; which difference 

 may be accounted for by considering that the heat derived 

 from the sun would vary very much with the time of year, 

 and also the observations may have been made on different 

 species. From the egg stage they pass into grubs or larvae. 

 These are white and slightly conical in form ; they are also 

 legless and so are dependent for everything on the workers 

 who feed them by exuding the partly-digested food from 

 their own mouths, and who carry them about in the nest to 

 keep them in an even temperature. If the larvae emerge 

 from the eggs late in the autumn, they do not turn into 

 pupa; as soon as' usual, but lie dormant throughout the 



