1906.] Wheeler, Foundhig of Colonies by Queen Ants. 8 



«5 



fondled and licked the callows and tried to conceal them and the pupse whenever 

 the nest was uncovered. By 4 p.m. 4 pupae had hatched. Whenever one of the 

 callows tried to crawl away from the pile of pupae, female B would follow her, 

 seize her in her mandibles and bring her back, much as a cat carries her kitten. 

 Both females were equally solicitous about the young. They had even brought 

 back some of the youngest of the dead callows from the opposite end of the nest 

 and had placed them with the pupae. On the succeeding days the number of 

 callows increased as follows: July 20 there were 13; July 21, 23; July 22, 32; 

 July 23, 36; July 24, 40; July 25, about 50. During all this time the females 

 showed no tendency to establish different colonies by dividing the brood, nor 

 any signs of hostility' towards each other. At 6 p.m., July 26, they were set free 



Experiment 47. July 23, 1.15 p.m , a rubiciinda female was introduced into 

 a nest containing 21 medium-sized and large workers of siibsericea with a num- 

 ber of semipupag and naked pupas from a large colony nesting in a mound. She 

 was at once attacked but promptly killed two of the workers, then a third, and 

 then angrily pulled one by the mandibles. By 5.30 p.m. she had killed all but 

 one of the workers and was busily collecting the brood and storing it in a dark 

 corner of the nest. July 24, 8 a.m. The single worker was still alive but wan- 

 dering dejectedly about far from the female and the brood. Two callows had 

 hatched during the night. July 25, 7.30 a.m. The single worker had been 

 killed during the night and the female was in undisputed possession of the pupag. 

 A third callow had appeared and by 2.15 p.m. two more had been freed from 

 their pupal envelopes by the female. On the following day (July 26) a sixth 

 callow hatched. The little colony was set free in the garden at 6 p.m. 



The above series of successful experiments shows very clearly that 

 the female rubiciinda, when placed with a small number of subsericea 

 workers and their pupae, displays a chain of instincts that result in her 

 gaining possession of the latter. To all appearances she is quite ready 

 to be amicably adopted by the subsericea, but when received with 

 marked hostility, as is probably almost invariably the case, her an- 

 imosity is very quickly kindled, and she slays the subsericea with all 

 possible dispatch, thus manifesting instincts very similar to those of 

 her own workers when engaged in a dulotic raid. Owing to her power- 

 ful mandibles and closely knit frame she is always a match for several 

 workers and may kill as many as 21 of these (Experiment 41) in a very 

 short time. Before she has killed them all, however, she becomes much 

 interested in their brood, eagerly collects and secretes it in some favor- 

 able corner and guards it with open mandibles till the callows are ready 

 to hatch. These she skilfully divests of their cocoons and pupal en- 

 velopes. Their advent in considerable numbers appears to be the 

 signal for another marked change in the instincts of the female. She 

 now becomes very timid, fleeing whenever the nest is disturbed and 

 taking refuge in the darkest and remotest corner of the nest. In this 

 instinct phase the female remains throughout the remainder of her 



