HONEY ANTS 



were taken to the "cemetery," that common dumping- 

 ground for the dead which ants often maintam. The 

 abdomens, with their tempting contents, were never 

 violated. The amber globes were pulled up steep gal- 

 leries, rolled along rooms, and bowled into the grave- 

 yard along with juiceless heads, legs, and trunks. Did 

 this spring from an instinctive sentiment by which 

 nature protects the living honey-bearer? At least, the 

 workers seemed to draw a line between the use of the 

 honey when exposed by accident and when held intact 

 within the abdomens of the rotunds, whether living or 

 dead. Was this an accidental incident or is it a spe- 

 cific trait? 



That workers within the formicary feed from the 

 rotunds as they do from repletes at the gates was seen 

 in the artificial nests. Here is an example noted and 

 sketched. The rotund stood with her head erect, her 

 body elevated upon her legs at an angle of 45°, and 

 regurgitated a drop of honey, which hung to the mouth 

 parts. This was received by a major, who stood oppo- 

 site and in like posture, and by a minim that stood 

 almost erect and stretched up from below. Another 

 major, attracted to the banquet, got her share by reach- 

 ing over the back of the first worker and thrusting her 

 mouth into the common " dish." 



It added something to the inquiry that rotunds hold 

 the place of dependants. The workers plainly rank 

 them with the queen, virgin females, males, and larvie. 

 They were not fed, for their full crops guaranteed them 

 against possible hunger. But the workers hovered about 

 them as they hung upon the roof, cleansing them as they 

 did the larvse. In natural sites, when the honey-rooms 

 were broken open and rotunds disturbed from their 



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