524 IHE ANT. 



copulate in the air ; and the females, who are th« fmal- 

 left of the race, feldom repair to the common habitation : 

 What is their deftiny, whether they die by the feverity 

 of the winter, or fall a facrifice, like the bees, to the 

 mercilefs fury of the labouring ants, is not afcertained *. 

 We have already had occafion to remark the fondnefs 

 of thefe infers for the faccharine liquor that exfudes 

 from the plant loufe : it is in queft of that food that they 

 are frequently feen on plants, in the company of thefe 

 infe^ls. In Switzerland, however, they are tranfported 

 to trees for a different purpofe ; the dellruftion of cater- 

 pillars, and other vermin. A bag filled with ants is 

 faftened to a tree, with a fmall hole purpofely left open 

 for them to creep cut ; they fpread along the tree, and 

 are prevented from leaving it, by a quantity of pitch with 

 which the Hem is covered. Rather than die by famine, 

 they go In purfuit of the caterpillars among the leaves^ 

 Hind devour them. 



♦ JBarbut's Gen. Infed. p. aS®. 



