WHAT I SAW IN AN ANT'S NEST. 329 



with the nest. It was, in point of fact, an entirely new 

 habitation, and, as far as human judgment might venture 

 upon an opinion, the new residence appeared to give promise 

 of being a safe and convenient domicile. Now and then an 

 ant would emerge from the ruins of the nest carrying a 

 younger, hopeful in the larva or caterpillar stage. This 

 latter was a little white grub, which corresponds in its 

 development to the grub or caterpillar of the butterfly or fly ; 

 the ants thus exemplifying insects which undergo a complete 

 " metamorphosis." It was rather a difficult matter to ascer- 

 tain clearly if the ants were actually excavating the chrysa- 

 lides from amongst the debris. Bearing in mind what Sir 

 John Lubbock has told us concerning the apparent inability 

 of ants to discover the whereabouts of companions buried 

 under earth, I rather lean to the belief that my ants simply 

 conveyed to a place of safety those chrysalides which were 

 at hand and readily obtainable. The latter fact I could not 

 ascertain, since I feared to disturb the ants at their interest- 

 ing labours; but a simple experiment served to show the 

 feasibility of the idea that the chrysalides were probably 

 within easy reach of the ants. 



Taking possession of one chrysalis which was being 

 conveyed to the new domicile, I buried it about half an 

 inch deep in the sand, directly in the track over which the 

 ants were journeying to their new residence, and a second 

 chrysalis I placed at a little distance from this track, but 

 in a spot over which numerous ants were running apparently 

 without any definite aim. The second pupa-ant was not 

 buried in any sense, and was covered merely with a sprink- 

 ling of sand. The result in both cases was negative. 

 No attempt was made to disinter the chrysalis from the 

 beaten track, although numberless ants walked directly over 

 it ; and I extricated the chrysalis five hours after its inter- 

 ment, and when the busy scene of the morning had been 

 replaced by a dull prospect, over which only a single ant 

 now and then hurried in a rapid fashion. The other chry- 

 salis was also unnoticed, despite its proximity to the surface 



