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Larvae of different species. —Mr. Bacot: Larvae of Lasiocampa 
trifolii, sent by Mr Simes, from Cornwall; larvae of two species 
of Arctia, one of which was Arctia purpurea, sent by Dr. Chapman ; 
larvae of Anger on a prwnaria ; larvae of Tephrosia bistortata and T. 
crepuscularia for comparison ; also larvae of the cross between T. 
bistortata and T. crepuscularia. Mr. Bacot read the following 
notes on his exhibits :—“The A-mark on the dorsum of the segments 
in T. bistortata is well marked, and usually joined at apex, or only has 
a narrow opening, while in T. crepuscularia (biundularia ) the corres¬ 
ponding mark is always widely open at apex, and often the A-mark 
is very faint or altogether absent. One box contains the larvie of the 
cross between ? T. bistortata and $ T. crepuscularia, and the other 
two boxes the larvae of pairings between 2 s of T. crepuscularia and 
S s of T. bistortata. One of the latter broods was from my own pairing, 
and the other from Dr. Riding’s. The hybrid larvas of both crossings 
show more tendency to follow T. bistortata than T. crepuscularia, though 
a few larvie can be found with the open bar, and I think this is more 
frequent among the larvae, the 2 parent of which was T. crepuscularia 
( biundulana ). I should just like to state that I was mistaken in my 
remarks at a previous meeting to the effect that the $ s of T. bistortata 
would not pair with the ? s of T. crepuscularia ; it is evident that they 
must have done so, as all the ova laid by 2 s of T. crepuscularia, 
which had been shut up with $ s of T. bistortata, hatched. I was 
misled by the fact that I never found them together, although with 
the reverse pairing I always found the moths in cop., and they often 
remained together for several hours. This seems to point to a 
difference in the habits of the two species.” Industries and politics 
of THE ANT. — Mr. Sauze read a paper, entitled “ Industries and 
Politics of the ant.” He said that, at the name ‘ant’ there is, 
perhaps, conjured up in the mind an ideal insect, which leads to 
disappointment on watching an ordinary working ant out of doors. 
A casual glance at a few ants is misleading. It was to the varied 
forms of the ant tribe he wished to call attention. How the efforts 
of individuals, little in themselves, tell up in the aggregate can be 
seen by examining a common object in our woods, the nest of Formica 
rufa. The marvel in ant-life is the multiplicity of resources, habits, 
and industries, occurring in the many species. Of the inhabitants of 
a nest, the males and females were spoken of with their natural duties, 
and the workers, major and minor, the former appearing to act as 
sentinels or ‘ soldiers,’ the latter attending to the duties of feeding the 
grubs, carrying pupae into warmth, removing them from danger, and 
helping to force the imago from the pupal pellicle. It is these 
workers who build, forage, keep and distribute the common stores. 
Attention was next drawn to the connection between ants and 
aphides, to the migrating and hunting habits of species of Eciton, of 
S. America, to the so-called slave-making habits of Formica sanguinea, 
of this country, F.fusca being the ant enslaved, to the harvesting 
instincts of species of Atta, etc., in India, S. France and Palestine, to 
the operations of the extraordinary Agricultural Ant of Texas, and of the 
Umbrella Ant found in tropical America. As regards intelligence, 
ants were thus seen by these varied practical developments to deserve 
a high place, and, in the opinion of the reader, to rank before bees, 
and any other invertebrates. The nearest analogy amongst mankind 
