Care of the Young in the Animal Kingdom, 177 



being their Lomechusa-larvae, so dear to them on 

 account of their quicker growth and their better 

 appetite. It does not affect the ants in the least, that 

 the Lomechusa-larvae again and again devour the 

 eggs and young larvae of the ant colony by the whole- 

 sale ; on the contrary, they even carry these change- 

 lings to the clumps of eggs and larvae to facilitate 

 their work of destruction. Unless a superior Wisdom 

 had provided that the ants themselves, by their stupid 

 affection, prevent the excessive increase of the Lome^ 

 chusa population, the number of these guests would 

 become so large as to destroy all the sanguinea- 

 colonies. But there is no danger of any such calamity ; 

 for, the ants deal with the Lomechusa-larvae during 

 their pupation just as they do with their own, imbed- 

 ding them carefully in a vault of earth. After a 

 short time, the ant-larvae having meanwhile spun 

 their cocoons, are again removed from the earth. 

 This latter measure applied to the Lomechusa-larvae 

 proves fatal to them. The larvae of these beetles do 

 not spin a solid cocoon, but only an extremely flimsy, 

 silken web, which tears as soon as they are unearthed ; 

 soon after the Lomechusa-larvae are again carefully 

 imbedded at some other place, then they are taken 

 out again, carried about, again imbedded, until at 

 length they become dry and perish. In this manner 

 the folly of the ants causes most of the Lomechusa- 

 larvae to die before they are changed into pupae ; and 

 even those, which have fortunately entered the state of 

 a pupa, are often unearthed by the ants and devoured, 

 perhaps from an excess of affection? According 



to my long continued observations on the development 

 12 



