128 THE INSECT WOKLD. 



was covered with brown ants and plant-lice. I observed the latter 

 for some time, so as to discover, if possible, the moment when they 

 caused this secretion to issue from their bodies ; but I remarked 

 that it very rarely came out of its own accord, and that the plant- 

 lice, which were at some distance from the ants, squirted it out 

 with a movement resembling a kick. 



" How did it happen, then, that the ants wandering about on 

 the thistle were nearly all remarkable for the size of their abdomens, 

 and were evidently full of some liquid ? This I discovered by 

 narrowly watching one ant, whose proceedings I am going to 

 describe minutely. I saw it at first passing, without stopping, 

 over some plant-lice, which did not seem in the least disturbed 

 by its walking over them; but it soon stopped close to one 

 of the smallest, which it seemed to coax with its antennse, 

 touching the extremity of its abdomen very rapidly, first with one 

 of its antennae and then with the other. I saw with surprise the 

 liquid come out of the body of the plant-louse, and the ant forth- 

 with seize upon the droplet and convey it to its mouth. It then 

 brought its antennae to bear upon another plant-louse, much larger 

 than the first ; this one, caressed in the same manner, yielded the 

 nourishing fluid from its body in a much larger dose. The ant 

 advanced and took possession of it. It then passed to a third, 

 which it cajoled as it had the preceding ones, giving it many 

 little strokes with its antennae near the hinder extremity of its 

 body ; the liquid came out immediately, and the ant picked it 



up A small number of these repasts are sufficient to satisfy 



the ant's appetite. 



"It does not appear that it is out of importunity that these 

 insects obtain their nourishment of the plant-lice. 



"The neighbourhood of ants is agreeable to plant-dice,, since 

 those which could get out of the way of their visits, viz., the 

 winged plant-lice, prefer to remain amongst them, and to lavish 

 upon them the superabundance of their nourishment."* 



What we have just related applies not only to the brown, but 

 also to the tawny ant, to the ashy black, to the fuliginous, and 

 to a great many more. 



* Recherches sur les Moeurs des Fourmis Indigenes. Svo.] [Paris," 1810. Pp. 

 181186. 



