36 A NATURALIST IN HIMALAYA 



and in their various struggles and manipulations to 

 effect this, the seed sometimes slips from their grasp 

 and falls down on to the refuse heap. But the prudent 

 harvesters are prepared for such accidents and the 

 seed is not lost. A number of workers will be seen 

 scrambling about on the refuse heap, seeking for any 

 seeds that may happen to fall, rescuing them from the 

 useless husks and conveying them back to the nest. 



Migration of ants from an overstocked formicary is, 

 I have little doubt, an important factor in effecting the 

 spread of many species. It is very usual to witness 

 certain species of ants transporting their larvae in a 

 long migratory stream to form a new colony in some 

 suitable crevice. But it is rare to see a migration of 

 harvesters ; they do not appear often to increase their 

 geographical distribution by such simple means. 

 However, I once did observe what seemed to be a 

 modified migration, for it could scarcely be considered 

 a removal from an old to quite a new nest, but rather 

 a transference from an overstocked part to a less 

 congested area of the same nest. The ants had 

 collected in a swarm about the apertures ; energetic 

 workers carried the larvae from out of one opening 

 and hurried down another ; the excavators continued 

 their toil of digging, but the vast majority of the ants 

 had joined together in a dense and idle throng. I 

 never saw such a concourse of harvesters or such a 

 display of idleness in ant life. The few engaged in 

 transporting the larvae laboured with enthusiasm, but 

 the remainder were wrapped in sloth. The ground 

 around, and as far as I could see into the tunnels 

 of the nest, was a seething mass of crawling, lazy 

 workers. 



