90 PERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 



collects in its nest a large herd of a kind of Aphis, that 

 derives its nutriment from the roots of grass and other 

 plants (Aphis radicum] ; these it transports from the 

 neighbouring roots, probably by subterranean galleries, 

 excavated for the purpose, leading from the nest in all 

 directions a ; and thus, without going out, it has always 

 at hand a copious supply of food. These creatures share 

 its care and solicitude equally with its own offspring. 

 To the eggs it pays particular attention, moistening them 

 with its tongue, carrying them in its mouth with the ut- 

 most tenderness, and giving them the advantage of the 

 sun. This last fact I state from my own observation ; 

 for once upon opening one of these ant-hills early in the 

 spring, on a sunny day, I observed a parcel of these eggs, 

 which I knew by their black colour, very near the sur- 

 face of the nest. My attack put the ants into a great fer- 

 ment, and they immediately began to carry these inter- 

 esting objects down into the interior of the nest. It is of 

 great consequence to them to forward the hatching of 

 these eggs as much as possible, in order to ensure an 

 early source of food for their colony; and they had doubt- 

 less in this instance brought them up to the warmest part 

 of their dwelling with this view. M. Huber, in a nest of 

 the same ant, at the foot of an oak, once found the eggs 

 of Aphis Quercus. 



Our yellow ants are equally careful of their Aphides 

 after they are hatched, when their nest is disturbed con- 

 veying them into the interior, fighting fiercely for them if 



a Huber, 195. I have more than once found these Aphides in the 

 nests of this species of ant. 



