THE HARVESTING-ANTS OF FLORIDA. 87 



them in order to obtain the sugar they con- 

 tain, it would take no more wisdom to treat 

 the seed as they do the larva) bringing 

 them near the surface to obtain the right 

 degree of heat for the required result. 



The little workers seem very determined 

 not to allow any green thing to grow on 

 their mounds. Cassia and croton and many 

 other plants start to grow from seeds which 

 the ants have dropped, but they are always 

 cut down and destroyed if too near the 

 mound, though allowed to grow at a little 

 distance ; so that a botanist would be as- 

 tonished at the great variety of plants with- 

 in a small area if not aware of the source 

 from which they came. I sometimes found 

 small shrubs of Kalmla hirsuta and Hyperi- 

 cums entirely dead on the mounds, the roots 

 completely girdled in many places. It is 

 very amusing to watch them in their efforts 

 to destroy grass and other plants. Their 

 determined persistence is remarkable : they 

 cut off the tender blades and throw them 

 away. But they do not stop here : the roots 

 must be exterminated; so several dig around 

 the plant, throwing the earth backward, and 

 after making it bare they cut and girdle tho 

 roots until the plant is killed. 



Early in March the ants in the jar seemed 



