146 Journal New York Entomological Society. [Vol. xvi. 



ances for slight deviations passing our tents, which delayed matters a 

 little in their finding the entrances to the nest they were after. It 

 was immediately noticeable when they stopped proceeding further 

 southwest and began deploying for entrance holes. While we ob- 

 servers were still hunting for a nest, the soldiers seemed to be lessen- 

 ing in numbers until there were hardly two dozen left above ground, 

 scouring the neighborhood in a general way over two square feet of 

 ground. Just then, not five minutes from the time they reached this 

 vicinity, a lucidus appeared with a pupa ; thus giving the cue to the 

 location of the nest holes. We quickly found the inconspicuous 

 entrance under a tuft of grass at the side of a half-buried, flat, little 

 stone. Down this one entrance the red ant stream had drained so 

 quickly from view that it seemed hardly possible that the insects could 

 have already located the nursery. Another ant followed close behind 

 the first, then others and others, till the straggling, booty-laden, 

 homeward caravan was at once noticeable. 



The speed of this homeward column, now greatly lengthened 

 out, was little less than the outward run. The soldiers stopped for 

 nothing unless absolutely caught fast by obstructions. The remark- 

 able speed in ants that are supposed to remain inactive most of each 

 year, the lack of any pause to rearrange loads, as the sangnineas do, 

 and the evident unerring instinct, struck all the observers as wonder- 

 ful. Where did they store up so much untiring, indomitable energy 

 without great exercise in preparation for it? The need of athletics in 

 the social organization of the ants is not evident. These insects are 

 ready for extreme exertion after eight to ten months' rest, although in 

 the case of the queen ants we know that the wing muscles at least 

 quickly degenerate. 



About 2:43 t0 2: 45 P- ni -> tne fi rst booty-laden soldier started 

 homeward. About 3:05 to 3:10 p. m., when the column had been 

 streaming into the home citadel for ten minutes, apparently the last 

 burdened ant was a rod away from the captured nest. If the expedi- 

 tion start be taken as 2:20 p. m., the last ant would have been over 

 half-way home at 3:20 p. m. So the real work of the expedition was 

 done within an hour, and the time limit for the complete operation, 

 including the last ant, scarcely exceeded an hour. 



There seemed to have been no fight. Two very much excited 

 workers appeared around the entrance of the captured nest, evidently 

 the species inhabiting that nest. They are larger than the slow-mov- 



