Notes on Indian Ants. 
207 
altogether, and the other had grown to such an extent 
as to be hardly recognizable, and the hole in which the 
nest was situated had filled up and bulged out ; but had 
these nests been in existence they would not have afforded 
the same test of continued residence as the much rarer 
and more highly localized species 8. nigra and M.fodiens. 
I do not think rufo-nigra is a common ant in Bombay ; 
but should anyone wish to find her, there are one or two 
nests in the Victoria Gardens. 
Sound. 
I started on my tour with the full determination of 
making ants stridulate if I possibly could ; but in spite 
of this bias and exceptional opportunities of observation 
afforded by at least Lohopelta, I must confess myself 
altogether disappointed, for, with the exception of the 
click, click, of the jumping hsematodes, I failed to detect 
any sound which could be considered self-evolved; but 
because I failed I do not for one moment suggest that 
ants cannot and do not stridulate so as to be audible by 
human ears. Dr. Sharp in his very interesting paper 
(Trans. Ent. Soc. ii., 1893) has amply proved that they 
possess the means. Mr. Aitken is perfectly certain as to 
Lohopelta^ and Mr. Wroughton, though not quite so 
strong in his faith, is still a believer in Gremastogasters' 
powers ('^ Our Ants/' pp. 15, 16), and such accurate 
observers are not likely to be mistaken. 
The moral I should like to advance is, that you can- 
not make ants do what you wish, and when you wish, 
' they won't play if they do not want to ; and I feel con- 
vinced this spirit enters largely into ant life, and will 
account for many apparent discrepancies in observations 
of their habits. Ants, or at least Indian ants, are so 
I clever that they will not be bound by hard and fast lines 
but require a certain latitude for variation of polity. I 
ventured to suggest this theory in my former notes 
(Trans. Ent. Soc. iii., 1889, p. 347), and I now feel 
more stroogly than ever, that in laying down rules for 
ant conduct, some allowance should always be made for 
the different little traits of character, the whims and 
fancies, as it were, which are to be found, not only in a 
given species but in individual ants. 
TRANS. ENT. SOC. LOND. 1895. — PART II. (jUNE.) 14 
