ANTS, THEIR GUESTS AND THEIR LODGERS 91 



drawback in collecting them is the havoc caused 

 to the nests of the ants. These structures have 

 been the result of enormous labour on the part 

 of these little creatures, and one cannot regard 

 their destruction without sincere regret. I think 

 any one who, when collecting beetles, disturbs a 

 large nest of the little garden ant (Lasius niger) 

 or the little yellow ant (Lasius flavus) by 

 turning over a stone, as the writer has often done 

 himself, must have experienced a like regret at 

 having broken up all the beautiful passages and 

 galleries which the ants have constructed so 

 carefully. 



