364 THE FOUNDING OF COLONIES BY ATTA SEXDENS. 



generally been able to observe the same egg being given to several 

 larvae by the workers, who slowly squeeze it with their mouth parts. 

 The food of the workers at this period consists of kohlrabi. This 

 has been developed for some time and is seen in large quantities 

 along the margin of the fungus-garden. As a rule the little workers 

 are incapable of consuming an entire kohlrabi, but merely nibble 

 upon it where it grows, licking up the crystal clear drops that ooze 

 out of its interior. Often, however, these bodies are cut from the 

 fungus and then devoured by two or three workers or are passed on 

 from one to another of them. It is not at all improbable that in feed- 

 ing the larvae the workers themselves occasionally consume some of 

 the liquid contents of the eggs. Once at least I detected a worker 

 trying to squeeze out the contents of an egg between the mandibles 

 and maxillse; she was, however, prevented by another worker. In 

 regard to the nourishment of the queen, I am compelled to admit 

 that I am somewhat in the dark, for after the appearance of the 

 young workers I have observed only a solitary case, and that a 

 rather doubtful one, of the queen devouring an egg. Whenever I 

 have seen an egg laid I haA'e noticed that it was either deposited in 

 the nest or given to the larvae. The queen does not feed upon 

 kohlrabi at this period any more than previously. I have, however, 

 observed the process of a worker approaching the queen, spreading 

 its mandibles and offering its tongue, which is then licked by the 

 queen. At first I believed this to be a case of ihe feeding of 

 workers by the queen, but inasmuch as the workers feed upon kohl- 

 rabi such a conclusion is rather improbable, and the more plausible 

 exj^lanation seems to be that the w^orker is in this way offering 

 some nourishing liquid to the queen. On this point further investi- 

 gation is needed for a safe conclusion. 



The workers, which, as previously remarked, are of two sizes at 

 the beginning, do not display any definite distinction in their labors. 

 On certain days they are to be seen almost entirely concerned with 

 the fungus garden, only rarely one or another of these moving a 

 few steps away. At the expiration of a week I first noticed a soli- 

 tarj^ worker making excavations in the earth, without my being at 

 all certain that it was in any way connected with the preparation of 

 an exit tunnel. About the same time there began to appear work- 

 ers with massive heads 4 to 5 mm. long. In one of my cultures, 

 nine days after the appearance of the first workers, and when there 

 were about 35 of these, I noticed for the first time the young workers 

 very busy in mining operations, two tunnehj on opposite sides about 

 2 mm. Avide being excavated, and even the smallest of the workers 

 sharing in the operation. In the case of another colony of mine I 

 discovered on the 2d of May, ten days after the appearance of the 



