56 BRITISH ANTS. 



hand, which may subsequently be traced. The myrmecologist 

 who wishes to take photographs of ants' nests in situ, will also 

 require a good camera. I use a reflex camera, with a good lens 

 which can be mounted, with a ball and socket turn-table, on a very 

 light tripod made of aluminium. The face of the camera can thus 

 be pointed towards the ground, or in any other position required. 



Mounting and Preserving. 



British ants should always be completely mounted on card 

 ants should never be pinned, but for a general collection such as 

 the Palaearctic Species, the Ants of the World, etc. they should 

 not be treated in the British manner, but should be glued on 

 small triangular pieces of card, the body of the ant lying across 

 the narrow end, and a long stout insect pin being run through 

 the broad end, in the continental manner. Three such cards and 

 the data written on a small label may be staged on the same pin. 



I personally first mount our species with gum tragacanth on 

 any card stout enough not to curl up, their legs, antennae, and 

 wings being set in the desired position. These cards, with full 

 data written on them, are placed on the boards in my drying 

 cages until the winter, when they are (card, pin and all) dropped 

 into petrol and left there for twenty-four hours this permanently 

 removes all grease, and revives the colours. They are then removed, 

 and, when dry, remounted on clean cards ; this is easily done with 

 a fine paint-brush and a little water, a drop of strong gum being 

 placed on the underside of the ant only, as sufficient tragacanth 

 remains on the legs, etc., to keep them in position, though it does 

 not show. Each ant is remounted on a single oblong piece of white 

 Bristol board, which has been cut to the required size with a card- 

 cutter, and the locality, date of capture, etc., is written on the 

 underside of the card itself. These cards are fastened into the 

 cabinet drawer with small English " Lill " pins, the top halves of 

 which have been cut off. For the proper study of ants a large 

 series is necessary, I therefore keep two collections. The one is a 

 show collection and is arranged in cabinet drawers ; it consists 

 of three or four males, the same number of females (half of the 

 latter being winged, half deflated) and sixteen to twenty workers 

 of each species for this collection only, specimens are remounted. 

 The other is a duplicate collection, and is kept in a number of store- 

 boxes ; specimens of each species (a few mounted on their backs, 

 others dissected, etc.) are present from as many different British 

 localities as possible, and also males, females and workers from the 

 same, as well as from different colonies. I also possess a large 

 collection of the ants of the world, but this does not concern us 

 here. 



It is obvious that the cards may be staged on long pins if desired, 



