ruary I found a large number of the larvae of the
carpenter-ant (_Camponotus meleus_, Say). They were very small, and
closely packed together in a chamber cut out of hard wood, two inches in
length and an inch and a quarter in diameter, nearly circular. It was
packed full of larvae and eggs, the larvae apparently just hatched. I
detached a small mass, all stuck together, and placed them in the jar
with the harvesters. The workers minor immediately surrounded the mass,
touching it with their antennae, and then retreated backward, passing
their fore legs over the head and antennae, as if the larvae were
obnoxious to them. Great commotion ensued, followed by an apparent
consultation lasting a few moments; but soon the usual quietness
reigned, and most of the ants left the helpless larvae and returned to
their mining and to the storing away of seeds or feeding their own
young. But two or three had not entirely deserted the young carpenters.
Again and again they touched them, and then retreated, cleansing the
antennae as they moved backward. At last one seized the mass and held it
in her mandibles, standing nearly in an upright position. Several
workers now surrounded her, picked the larvae off, one by one, and
carried them below, until all were separated and disposed of.

But by far the most satisfactory way of studying the ants is in their
native haunts on the barrens, where I had ten nests under observation.
One of these was so situated that it received the direct rays of the sun
all day, and was protected from north and east winds by dense, low
shrubbery. On sunny days, even with a cool wind from the north, when
taking my seat in this sheltered spot, I would soon become uncomfortably
warm. This hill was always active whenever I visited it, while in other
localities the ants would often be all housed. Around this active nest I
stuck stems of millet eighteen inches high, surmounted by the
close-packed heads. The ants climbed the stems, loosened and secured the
seeds, and stored them within the nest. They worked vigorously,
sometimes twenty or more on one head pulling away at the seeds. In my
artificial formicary they did not mount the stems, even when the heads
were not more than three or four inches from the ground, but seeds that
I scattered in the jar were always taken below.

I threw down a handful of apple-seeds near the entrance of the active
hill on the barrens. This immediately attracted a large number of
excited