2956 THE ZooLoGist—FEBRUARY, 1872. 
Mr. F. Smith communicated a long letter from Mr. J. T. Moggridge, 
dated from Mentone, November 7th, relating to the habits of certain species 
of ants belonging to the genus Aphenogaster. Mr. Moggridge had ob- 
served that two species of this genus (A. structor and A. capitata) frequenting 
the sandstone slopes of that neighbourhood were, in the winter months, in 
the habit of carrying into their nests the seeds of certain late-fruiting plants, 
especially of Polygonum vulgare. The nests of A. capitata extend a long 
way into the rock; with the aid ofa chisel and hammer these excavations 
had been traced to their limits, and in one case the channels ended in a 
spherical chamber, filled with the seeds of a grass which he had seen the 
ants in the act of transporting. Outside the channels there was generally a 
heap of the husks of the various seeds, and sometimes one of those heaps 
would fill a quart measure. These husks had had their farinaceous contents 
extracted through a hole on one side. He purposely strewed near the nests 
large quantities of millet and hemp-seeds. After the lapse of a fortnight 
many of these seeds, previously conveyed into the nests, had been brought 
out again, they having evidently commenced to germinate, and he then 
found that the radicle was gnawed off from each seed, so as to prevent 
further growth, and, this being effected, the seeds were carried back again. 
The cotyledons of germinated seeds were removed from the nests. The 
oily seeds of hemp appeared to be greatly in request. He had not found 
any true Myrmecophilous beetles in the nests, but a specimen of a Choleva 
was observed, and Aleochara nitida swarmed about the entrance of the 
galleries. There were, however, numerous immature examples of a Lepisma, 
and a Coleopterous larva, to which the ants paid great attention, an agitated 
group of workers seizing one of them when placed near them, removing it 
to a place where there was loose friable earth, into which it immediately 
began to burrow. The only recent account of the storing of grain by ants that 
Mr. Moggridge had been able to find was in the ‘ Encyclopsdia Popolare,’ 
Torino, 1845, in which the explanation given was that the ants used the 
seeds for building materials. He promised to make further observations 
on these grain-storing species, and to communicate the results to the 
Society. 
Prof. Westwood called attention to a paper on the same subject by the 
Rey. F. W. Hope, published in vol. i. of the ‘ Transactions’ of the Society 
(pp. 211—213), 1839. 
Mr. Butler read a paper ‘On certain Species of Pericopides in the 
Collection of W. Wilson Saunders, Esq.” 
New Part of ‘ Transactions.’ 
Part iv. of the ‘ Transactions’ for 1871 (published in December) was on 
the table —R M‘L. 
