IV ANTS — CAMPONOTIDES I 53 



forced by the distention to the posterior part of the body. 

 Lvibbock has since described an Australian ant, Melopliorus 

 uiflatus, having a similar peculiar habit, but belonging to the 

 allied tribe Plagiolepisii. Quite recently a South African honey- 

 tub ant belonging to the distinct genus Plagiohpis (Ftrimeni 

 For.) has been discovered, affording a proof that an extremely 

 specialised habit may arise independently of relation between the 

 Insects, and in very different parts of the world. 



Species of the genus Lasius are amongst the most abundant 

 of the ant-tribe in Britain. They are remarkable for their con- 

 structive powers. L. niger, the common little black garden-ant, 

 forms extensive subterranean galleries, and is extremely successful 

 in the cultivation of various forms of Apliidae, from the products 

 of which the species derives a large part of its subsistence. The 

 ants even transport the Aphidae to suitable situations, and thus 

 increase their stock of this sugary kind of cattle, and are said to 

 take the eggs into their own dwellings in the autumn so that 

 these minute and fragile objects may be kept safe from the 

 storms and rigours of winter. These little creatures are brave, 

 but when attacked by other ants they defend themselves chiefly 

 by staying in their extensive subterranean galleries, and blocking 

 up and securing these against their assailants. 



L. fuliginostis, another of our British species, has very different 

 habits, preferring old trees and stumps for its habitation ; in the 

 hollows of these it forms dwellings of a sort of card ; this it 

 makes from the mixture of the secretions of its salivary glands 

 with comminuted fragments of wood, after the fashion of wasps. 

 It is a moderate-sized ant, much larger than the little L. niger, 

 and is of a black colour and remarkably shining; it gives off 

 a very strong but by no means disagreeable odour, and may be 

 seen on the hollow trees it frequents, stalking about in large 

 numbers in a slow and aimless manner that contrasts strikingly 

 with the active, bustling movements of so many of its congeners. 

 When this species iinds suitable trees near one another, a colony 

 is established in each ; the number of individuals thus associated 

 becomes very large, and as the different colonies keep up inter- 

 communication, this habit is very useful for purposes of defence, 

 Forel relates that he once brought a very large number of 

 Formica prcdensis and liberated them at the base of a tree in 

 which was a nest of Z. fuliginosus ; these latter, finding them- 



