ANTS WARS. 69 



their minds. Then some of them entered the nest, soon 

 after which hosts of warriors streamed out of the entrances, 

 and ran about tapping each other with their heads and 

 antennae. They then formed into column and set out to 

 pillage the nest of the slave ants. The following is the 

 account which Lespes gives of such expeditions : 



They only take place towards tlie end of the summer and in 

 autumn. At this time the winged members of the slave species 

 (F. fusca and F. cunicularia) have left ths nest, and the 

 Amazons will not take the trouble to bring back useless 

 sumers. When the sky is clear our robbers leave their town in 

 the afternoon at about three or four o'clock. At first no order 

 is perceptible in their movements, but when they are all 

 gathered together they form a regular column, which then moves 

 forward quickly, and each day in a different direction. They 

 march closely pressed together, and the foremost always appear 

 to be seeking for something on the ground. They are each 

 moment overtaken by others, so that the head of the column is 

 continually growing. They are in fact seeking the traces of the 

 ants which they propose to plunder, and it is scent that guides 

 them. They snuff over the ground like hounds following the 

 track of a wild animal, and when they have found it they 

 plunge headlong forward, and the whole column rushes on be- 

 hind. The smallest armies I saw consisted of several hundred 

 individuals, but I have also seen some four times as large. 

 They then form columns which may be five metres long, and as 

 much as fifty centimetres wide. After a march, which often 

 lasts a full hour, the column arrives at the nest of the slave 

 species. The F. cunicularice, which are the strongest, offer 

 keen opposition, but without much result. The Amazons soon 

 penetrate within the nest, to come out again a moment later, 

 while the assailed ants at the same time rush out in masses. 

 During the whole time attention is directed solely to the larvae 

 and pupae, which the Amazons steal while the others try to 

 save as many as possible. They know very well that the Ama- 

 zons cannot climb, so they fly with their precious burdens to 

 the surrounding bushes or plants, whereto their enemies cannot 

 follow them. They then pursue the retreating robbers and try 

 to take away from them as much of their booty as possible. 

 But the latter do not trouble themselves much about them, and 

 hasten on home. On their return they do not follow the short- 

 est road, but exactly the one by which they came, finding their 

 way back by smell. Arrived at their nest, they immediately 



