Vegetable and Animal 



found that an ant came to one of these fruits for sugar 

 and carried off a seed. The oily seedcoat of the wild 

 garlic (Allium ursinum) or of the Hepatica also attracts 

 the ants.^^ 



Such characters might very easily be supposed use- 

 less or ornamental, yet they are vital to the wide dis- 

 tribution of the species. Perhaps the fact (if true) that 

 the snowdrop is not really a British plant may be best 

 explained by the absence or comparative scarcity of the 

 ants which carry its seed. Its distribution in Europe 

 follows that of the oak or mixed forests everywhere. 



But ants and mites are far too important to leave to 

 the end of a chapter. 



204 



