26 Ants. 



the aphides belonged to one of the species usually 

 found on the roots of plants in the nests of the 

 ants. To my surprise, however, the young crea- 

 tures made the best of their way out of the nest, 

 and, indeed, were sometimes brought out by the 

 ants themselves. In vain I tried them with roots 

 of grass, &c. ; they wandered uneasily about, and 

 eventually died. Moreover, they did not in any 

 way resemble the subterranean species. In 1878 I 

 again attempted to rear these young aphides ; but 

 though I hatched a great many eggs I did not 

 succeed. In 1879, however, I was more fortunate. 

 The eggs commenced to hatch the first week in 

 March. Near one of my nests, in which I had 

 placed some of the eggs in question, was a glass 

 containing living specimens of several species of 

 plant commonly found on or around ants' nests. 

 To this some of the young aphides were brought 

 by the ants. Shortly afterwards I observed on a 

 plant of daisy, in the angles of the leaves, some 

 small aphides, very much resembling those from 

 my nest, though we had not actually traced them 

 continuously. They seemed thriving, and remained 

 stationary on the daisy. Moreover, whether they 

 had sprung from the black eggs or not, the ants 

 evidently valued them, for they built up a wall of 

 earth round and over them. So things remained 

 throughout the summer ; but on the Qth October J 

 found that the aphides had laid some eggs exactly 

 resembling those found in the ants' nests ; and on 



