on some Carnivorous Insects. 339 



parent and placed still wet in the run attracted much 

 more attention. Many ants examined them and some 

 went so far as to enclose one or other with their mandibles, 

 but each time at once desisted and went on. 



After waiting for some time longer I collected all the 

 eggs, then broke slightly two or three eggs of A. aglaonice 

 and put them in together. They were largely ignored, 

 but occasionally examined, and they found no carrier. A 

 similarly-prepared P. democlocus egg was treated in the 

 same way and of the two extracted hippocoon eggs one 

 eventually found a carrier, being taken by a small worker 

 with immense difficulty against the main current right 

 back to the station the latter was leaving, nearly three 

 yards off. An interesting incident occurred at the out- 

 set — all the more interesting because the ant was sight- 

 less : she had the greatest difficulty in making any headway, 

 and eventually dropped out to the side and, waiting till 

 three or four large ants with good-sized loads came along 

 in the desired direction, fell in behind them. She was 

 unable to keep up with them for very long, but eventually 

 reached her goal. The other extracted hippocoon egg 

 was finally picked up and thrown outside the column. 

 Eggs of P. cardui (three or four partly broken and forming 

 one mass) were examined, picked up and carried along, 

 but two unbroken eggs of C. ethalion were ignored (as 

 were, still, the broken eggs of Acraeas, etc., the treatment 

 of which I have just described). On being broken, however, 

 the two Charaxes eggs, one new-laid, the other already 

 with a dark apical ring, each quickly found a carrier. A 

 large adult male Acraea doubledayi, killed by myself and 

 placed outside the column, was overwhelmed, diswinged, 

 and carried away. 



I added more Pyrameis eggs, but the rush of ants was 

 now very great, and it was possibly for this reason that the 

 eggs were continuously overrmi, apparently unnoticed. 

 So I turned my attention to one of the side columns. 

 Here eggs of A. aglaonice, broken together, received a 

 great deal of attention but found no carrier; a new-laid 

 egg of C. ethalion was soon picked up and carried by a 

 side connection into the main column ; eggs of A. acara 

 were treated exactly as those of its congener had been, 

 but three or four P. cardui eggs were picked up together 

 and carried to the station ahead ; an egg of P. demodocus 

 was treated as the Acraea eggs had been, but a semi- 



