ANTS AND ANT LIFE. 121 



above on the relations between ants and Aphides, and the 

 thereby developed intelligence of the former, the author is 

 debtor to Herr Nottebohm, inspector of buildings, at 

 Karlsruhe, who related the following on May 24th, 1876, 

 under the title, " Ants as founders of Aphides' colonies : " 

 " Of two equally strong young weeping-ashes, which 

 I planted in rny garden- at Kattowitz, in Upper Silesia, one 

 succeeded well, and in about five or six years showed full 

 foliage, while the other regularly every year was covered, 

 when it began to bud, with millions of Aphides, which 

 destroyed the young leaves and sprouts, and thus completely 

 delayed the development of the tree. As I perceived that 

 the only reason for this was the action of the Aphides, I 

 determined to destroy them utterly. So in the March of the 

 following year 1 took the trouble to clean aud wash every 

 bough, sprig, and bud before the bursting of the latter, with 

 the greatest care by means of a syringe. The result was 

 that the tree developed perfectly healthy and vigorous 

 leaves and young shoots, and remained quite free from the 

 Aphides until the end of May or the beginning of June. 

 My joy was of short duration. One fine sunny morning 

 I saw a surprising number of ants running quickly up and 

 down the trunk of the tree ; this aroused my attention, and 

 led me to look more closely. To my great astonishment I 

 then saw that many troops of ants were busied in carrying 

 single Aphides up the stem to the top, and that in this 

 way many of the lower leaves had been planted with 

 colonies of Aphides. After some weeks the evil was as 

 great as ever. The tree stood alone on the grass plot, and 

 offered the only situation for an Aphides' colony for the 

 countless ants there present. I had destroyed this colony ; 

 but the ants replanted it, by bringing new colonists from 

 distant branches and setting them on the young leaves." 



Where nature, therefore, does not voluntarily provide for 

 the coveted presence of their beloved milch-cows, the ants 

 know how to take the trouble on their own shoulders in a 

 suitable place. Sometimes they attain their object in a 

 shorter but more perilous way, by simply fighting with their 

 relations or rivals for possession of the Aphides, just as we 

 have seen similar conduct among harvesting ants, and shall 

 see yet more among other genera. Forel saw a colony of 

 Formica exsecta, which he brought with him from Mont 



