DONISTHORPEA. 203 



platforms around the whole of the interior of the pipe, their brood 

 being arranged on these platforms. Daniell mentions that nigra 

 will nest in flower-pots, at the roots of the plants 13 , and I once 

 found a small colony in the large hollow root of a Yellow-Horned 

 Poppy at Pett near Hastings. This Donisihorpea has the habit of 

 constructing covered ways from its nests to plants on which Aphidae 

 occur, and also earthen pavilions to shelter and enclose the latter. 

 These constructions, which are very fragile, being made of earth 

 lightly cemented together, may frequently be seen round the 

 stems of plants and at the foot of trees. Step told me that he had 

 seen one of the covered ways of this ant in a greenhouse, which 

 went right up the wall to the roof, and the ants used this tunnel 

 to enter and leave the greenhouse. 



Stopes and Hewitt record earthen tents made by Donisthorpea 

 nigra in Japan to enclose Aphidae these tents, which were sausage- 

 shaped, made of dark sand, mixed with bits of broken shell and very 

 little cement, were constructed on small branches of an Ilex, on the 

 leaves of which Aphidae were feeding. Nearly the whole twig 

 and its leaves, except the end, were enclosed in a tent, and covered 

 galleries had been built from these tents to communicate with the 

 subterranean nests of the ants 55 . 



This species also builds earthen chambers, raised above the 

 ground, round the stems of grass Escherich gives a good figure of 

 such a structure 49 which are used as incubators for the ants' 

 brood ; they frequently occur at Weybridge, being made of the 

 fine dry sandy soil there, and are very brittle. I observed a small 

 sand crater at Tenby constructed by this ant at the entrance 

 to its nest which was situated on the sand-dunes, the crater prob- 

 ably having been built to prevent the opening into the nest from 

 being blocked up with sand blown by the wind. 



This species may often be seen running in and out of holes in 

 hard paths ; and tracks, which are very noticeable, occur on the 

 paths, worn bare by the feet of the ants constantly passing to and 

 fro. 



When nesting under stones sometimes under very large ones 

 D. nigra constructs most beautiful earthen cells between the ground 

 and the stone, with galleries extending down into the subterranean 

 chambers. 



If kept in captivity in " Lubbock " nests these ants generally 

 excavate chambers in a particular manner, with a narrow entrance, 

 and a few pillars of earth as supports. Lord Avebury has figured 

 such a nest, showing the entrance, vestibule, main chamber with 

 some pillars, almost as if to support the roof, and inner room ; the 

 queen surrounded by workers, one group of pupae, and several of 

 larvae, sorted according to ages ; and the blind wood-lice (Platy- 

 arthrus hoffmanseggi) 33 . 



Huber has beautifully described the manner in which the habita- 





