446 
ANT. 
dry, these aurelias are raised towards the surface of 
the hill, or carried to a depth below : even at the 
approach of night, or when there is an appearance 
of showers, will these industrious insects convey 
their charge to a place of safety, where neither cold 
nor wet can molest them. Swammerdam kept se- 
veral working ants, with their young, in a glass 
filled with earth, and was pleased to observe, that, 
as the earth dried on the surface, they dug deeper 
and deeper to deposit their eggs. When he poured 
water on them the parents laboured with unremit- 
ting diligence to put the young brood in the driest 
place, and did not cease to labour till they had 
effected their purpose. 
The males and females may be observed in the 
nests about the end of July or beginning of August ; 
they differ from the neuters in having wings, and 
the female may be at once distinguished by her 
size, which is much larger than the male. These 
last, having no longer any occupation at home, fly 
to a distance from the nest, and return no more ; 
they are said to live but a short time after the breed- 
ing season, many of them perishing by cold, and 
more by the smaller kinds of birds which devour 
great numbers of them. The females likewise emE 
grate with them ; but then they return again to their 
nests, and once more attend to their domestic oeco- 
nomy, 
Our European ants, though sometimes sufficient- 
ly troublesome, are not to be compared with the 
species inhabiting the warmer parts of the world. 
