196 BRITISH ANTS. 



Saunders 34 gives July and August as the months for the swarm- 

 ing of this species, but it also occurs both earlier and later in the 

 year; Schenck 7 noticed a marriage flight on June 25th, 1852, at 

 Nassau, and Morley observed males and females swarming on 

 spruce on May 4th, 1907, at Elvedon in Suffolk. Forel records the 

 copulation on June 24th and 29th and July 3rd in Switzerland 23 , 

 and on July 27th, 1911, I observed at Wellington College, in the 

 afternoon, a number of males and females running up the young 

 shoots and boughs growing on a tree stump in which their nest 

 was situated, and copulation took place on these branches 57 . In 

 the case of the large nest before mentioned, which I brought home 

 from Oxshott, copulation took place in September on the top of 

 the nest and in the box in which it was placed. It will thus be seen 

 that females are often fertilized by their brothers from the same 

 nest, and as the male unlike the other species in the genus is 

 not much smaller than the female, the latter is probably unable 

 to carry the former during the marriage flight. 



The gaster in the fertile female in time becomes distended with 

 eggs and swells enormously, having the appearance of a large sack 

 of white membrane. On August 16th, 1913, I found such a one at 

 Apse Heath in the Isle of Wight ; she was lodged in the cells at the 

 top of the carton nest, which was situated just below the turf at 

 the foot of an oak tree, and was surrounded by a large court of 

 workers 61 . Her total length is eleven mm., the gaster alone measur- 

 ing seven mm. in length, and six mm. in breadth. Crawley and I 

 have shown that the female does not lay till the year after im- 

 pregnation, and we have proved her to be a temporary social 

 parasite 56 , as will shortly be seen. 



The larvae, which are very numerous, occur throughout the year, 

 and the pupae are generally enclosed in cocoons, but both Mayr 8 

 and F. Smith 10 record finding a number of naked pupae. 



D. fuliginosa often founds new colonies by branch nests, which 

 accounts for the fact that many colonies are found in the districts 

 where this ant occurs. After the marriage flight newly fertilized 

 females are received back into the parent and other fuliginosa 

 nests near by. Occasionally, however, dealated females are found 

 wandering about in localities some distance from their nests. 

 Forel records finding a number of dealated females on roads at 

 Soleure on July 21st, 1869 23 , and Crawley found one at Oddington 

 near Oxford, about one hundred yards from a nest, and others at 

 Esher in August, 1899 59 , and in such cases as these the females 

 would not be likely to be received back into their own nests. How- 

 ever, when isolated they display no desire to found a colony. 

 Crawley and I have both kept in captivity newly fertilized females 

 which get rid of their wings immediately after impregnation ; 

 and they never settle down, but endeavour to escape, and soon 

 perish. 





