14 TWO CHAPTERS ON ANTS. 



ites, being so much more quiet and steady 

 in their habits. A black scarcely ever at- 

 tempted to bite my hand, even if I used him 

 quite roughly, but the reds would resent a 

 slight provocation. I have had my gloved 

 hand almost covered with the angry fellows, 

 biting and holding on to my glove, simply 

 because I uncovered one of the closed en- 

 trances to their dwelling. I have some- 

 times allowed one to bite my hand, and 

 found it could hurt considerably, and that 

 it left a small purple spot where its mandi- 

 bles had pierced. 



It is stated in scientific works that colo- 

 nies of the red ant often move, and carry 

 their larvae and pupse to other nests. Up to 

 this summer I should have concurred in the 

 above statement, as I had several times en- 

 countered a trail of red ants carrying larvae 

 and pupae, and had traced the trail from its 

 starting-point, and found only red ants 

 emerging from excavations among rubbish, 

 and so concluded that these ants were sim- 

 ply moving ; but a closer and more careful 

 study of their habits has convinced me that 

 this opinion was founded on superficial ob- 

 servation. 



On a sultry afternoon, the first day of 

 July, I was lazily sauntering in the grove, 



