218 INSECT CALENDAR. 



that filled the air, and appeared to be of some unusual form of 

 insect life, judging of them from a distance. On closer inspec- 

 tion these creatures proved to be a brood of red ants (Formica) 

 that had just emerged from their underground home and were 

 now for the first time using their delicate wings. The sky, at 

 the time, was wholly overcast; the wind strong, southeast; 

 thermometer 66 Fahr. Taking a favorable position near the 

 mass, as they slowly crawled from the ground, up the blades of 

 grass and stems of clover and small weeds, we noted, first, 

 that they seemed dazed, without any method in their move- 

 ments, save an ill-defined impression that they must go some- 

 where. Again, they were pushed forward, usually by those 

 coming after them, which seemed to add to their confusion. 

 As a brood or colony of insects, their every movement indicated 

 that they were wholly ill at ease. 



"Once at the end of a blade of grass, they seemed even more 

 puzzled as to what to do. If not followed by a fellow ant, as 

 was usually the case, they would invariably fall down again to 

 the earth, and sometimes repeat this movement until a new 

 comer joined in the ascent, when the uncertain individual would 

 be forced to use his wings. This flight would be inaugurated 

 by a very rapid buzzing of the wings, as though to dry them, or 

 prove their owner's power over them, but which it is difficult 

 to say. After a short rest, the violent movement of the wings 

 would recommence, and finally losing fear, as it were, the ant 

 would let go his hold upon the blade of grass and rise slowly 

 upwards. It could, in fact, scarcely be called flight. The 

 steady vibration of the wings simply bore them upwards, ten, 

 twenty or thirty feet, until they were caught by a breeze, or by 

 the steadier wind that was moving at an elevation equal to the 

 height of the surrounding pine and spruce trees. So far as we 

 were able to discover, their wings were of the same use to them, 

 in transporting them from their former home, that the 'wings' 

 of many seeds are, in scattering them ; both are wholly at the 

 mercy of the winds. 



"Mr. Bates, in describing the habits of the Saiiba ants (CEco- 

 doma cephalotes) says,* 'The successful debut of the winged 

 males and females depends likewise on the workers. It is 

 amusing to see the activity and excitement which reign in an 





 Naturalist on the River Amazons, vol. 1, p. 32. 



