HARVESTING ANTS 17 



shortening of the journey and the diminution of their 

 labour. 



Although not very particular as to the nature of the 

 seed which they take into the nest, they are very 

 careful to satisfy themselves that it is quite dry. 

 Moist seeds are always rejected, and in rainy weather, 

 when the seeds are unusually damp, the ants, after 

 collecting them, spread them around the orifice of the 

 nest and allow them to lie there until sufficiently dry. 

 I found that the ants were very fond of fragments 

 of walnut and carried them eagerly away, yet, if 

 moistened with water, not a particle would be lodged 

 in the nest until first thoroughly dried in the sun. 

 The garnered seeds are not always ripe, but may be 

 removed from the plant while still green. Sometimes 

 the seeds have broad green leaf-like expansions, 

 especially in a species of dock (Rumex hastatus\ 

 which is a common source of harvest. And as each 

 ant holds its little burden in the air, the green leafy 

 seeds sway from side to side, and the returning column 

 reminds one of the descriptions of the leaf-cutting ants 

 of tropical America, and recalls the vision, to which 

 Belt compares them, of a moving Birnam Wood. 



I have mentioned that nest-construction begins in 

 March, but this is only the case at altitudes of about 

 4000 feet. In the plains of the Punjab work com- 

 mences much earlier in the year. I have there 

 noticed the winged forms emerge in large numbers at 

 the end of January. In all probability the species 

 will be found active on the plains during any month 

 of the year. Moderate sunshine is the main stimulus 

 to labour, cold to sloth, while all industry ceases in an 

 intense heat. On the first days after emergence work 



