176 Mr. H. St. ggK- Donisthorpe’s Observations on 
nest. She had several fights with some of them, rolling 
over and over together on the ground. She eventually 
beat them off, or drove the more persistent ones away. 
Her behaviour was just such as I have observed in my 
observation nests at home when I have introduced rufa 
22 into fusca nests. Finally she entered one of the doors 
of the fusca nest, and we saw no more of her. In my 
paper on the Founding of Ants’ Nests (No. 42), I describe 
how a rufa § from Nethy Bridge was accepted by 3 5 of 
F. rufibarbis var. fusco-rufibarlis from Whitsand Bay, and 
in conclusion I write: “It is, therefore, quite clear that if 
this 2 will lay eggs the larvae will be brought up by these 
strange $9.” This was written on February 24th. On 
March 7th she began to lay eggs, and by April 14th four 
bunches of eggs had been produced. These were carried 
about by the } @ in their jaws. On May Ist all the eggs 
had hatched, some of the larvae being quite large, and they 
were fed and attended to by the $9. On June Ist many 
of the larvae had changed to naked pupae. (Though the 
pupae of Formica are generally enclosed in cocoons, the 
so-called “ants’ eggs” of bird fanciers and pheasant 
breeders, the first brood of a young queen is often naked. 
I have found naked pupae in a nest of &. fusca at Porlock, 
ete., and F. Smith recorded similar cases at Water’s Meet 
and other places (Ent. Ann. 1871, p, 59).) All the larvae 
changed to pupae, but only two spun cocoons. By June 
20th some of the pupae had reached the imaginal instar 
All eventually became perfect insects, but were weak and 
unable to walk alone and some were cripples, and they 
died after a few days. The 96 carried them about and 
attended to them, but I do not think they freed them 
thoroughly from the pupal skin. ‘This may be because 
there were not enough 9% to see to them properly, only 
about twenty-five being present. All the young 7uwfad 3 
were very small, this being generally the case with a 
young queen’s first brood. They were carried about even 
after death, and then thrown on the ants’ rubbish heap. 
I have mounted some of them on card. The queen has 
just commenced to lay again. A few eggs appeared on 
November 20th. These were carried about by one of the 
S,and on the 23rd they were on the top of the 9’s 
abdomen, where they had been placed during the night. 
To-day, November 26th, there is quite a large bunch of 
eggs, which is carried about by two of the 38. 
