










128 THE INSECT WORLD. 
was covered with brown ants and plant-lice. I observed the latter 
for some time, so as to discover, if possible, the moment when they 
caused this secretion to issue from their bodies; but I remarked 


that it very rarely came out of its own accord, and that the plant- | 
lice, which were at some distance from the ants, squirted it out 
with a movement resembling a kick. 
“How did it happen, then, that the ants wandering about on 
the thistle were nearly all remarkable for the size of their abdomens, | 
and were evidently full of some liquid? This I discovered by 
narrowly watching one ant, whose proceedings I am going to 
describe minutely. I saw it at first passing, without stopping, 
over some plant-lice, which did not seem in the least disturbed 
by its walking over them; but it soon stopped close to one 
of the smallest, which it seemed to coax with its antenne, 
touching the extremity of its abdomen very rapidly, first with one 
of its antenne and then with the other. I saw with surprise the 
liquid come out of the body of the plant-louse, and the ant forth- 
with seize upon the droplet and convey it to its mouth. It then 
brought its antenne to bear upon another plant-louse, much larger 
than the first ; this one, caressed in the same manner, yielded the 
nourishing fluid from its body in a much larger dose. The ant. 
advanced and took possession of it. It then passed to a third, 
which it cajoled as it. had the preceding ones, giving it many 
little strokes with its antennae near the hinder extremity of its | 
body ; the liquid came out immediately, and the ant picked it | 
ip gece A small number of these repasts are sufficient to satisfy _ 
the ant’s appetite. 
“Tt does not appear that it is out of importunity that these 
insects obtain their nourishment of the plant-lice. 
“The neighbourhood of ants is agreeable to plant-lice, since 
those which could get out of the way of their visits, viz., the 
winged plant-lice, prefer to remain amongst them, and to lavish 
upon them the superabundance of their nourishment.” * 
What we have just related applies not only to the brown, but 
also to the tawny ant, to the ashy black, to the fuliginous, and 
to a great many more. 
* Recherches sur les Mceurs des Fourmis Indigénes. 8vo.j! Paris, 1810. Pp. 
181—186. 

