INTELLIGENCE OF ANTS. 821 



HoxEY-MAKiNG Ants. These ants are found in Texas and New 

 Mexico. Their remarkable habits have been observed by Captain 

 Fleeson, who communicated his observations to Mr. Darwin. 



The community consists of three distinct kinds of ants, which ap- 

 pear to belong to two distinct genera. These are : 



I. Yellow workers ; nursers and feeders of II. 



II. Yellow honey-makers ; sole function to secrete a kind of honey 

 in their large globose abdomens, on which the other ants are supposed 

 to feed. They never quit the nest, and are fed and tended by I. 



III. Black workers ; guards and purveyors, which surround the nest 

 as sentinels, and also forage for the food required for I. They are 

 much larger and stronger than either I or II, and are provided with 

 very formidable mandibles. 



The nest is in the form of an absolutely perfect square, of which 

 each side measures from four to five feet, and the surface of which is 

 kept quite unbroken save at two points, at each of which there is a 

 very minute hole or entrance. One of these minute holes occurs near 

 the west side of the square, and the other near the southeast corner ; 

 for it must be remarked that the square is always built with precise 

 reference to the points of the compass, in such a way that one side 

 faces due north, and consequently the others due south, east, and west. 

 These boundaries are rendered very conspicuous by the guard of black 

 workers or soldiers (III), which continuously parade round three of 

 the sides in a close double line of defense, moving in opposite direc- 

 tions. This sentry-path occupies the north, east, and west boundaries, 

 the south side of the square being left open ; but, if an enemy ap- 

 proaches on this or any other side, a number of the guards leave their 

 stations and sally forth to face the foe, raising themselves on their hind- 

 legs on meeting the enemy, and moving their large mandibles in de- 

 fiance. After tearing the enemy to pieces the guards return to their 

 places in the line of defense, their object in destroying any insect or 

 other small intruders being defense of the encampment, and not the 

 obtaining of food. 



The southern side of the square encampment, or rather fortress, is 

 left open as just described in order to admit of a free entry of supplies. 

 While some of the black workers are on duty as gurad, another and 

 larger division are engaged on duty as purveyors. These enter and 

 leave the quadrangle by its southwest corner in a double line (one 

 laden and the other not), which follows exactly the diagonal of the 

 square to its central point, where all the booty, consisting of flowers 

 and aromatic leaves, is deposited in a heap. Passing from this central 

 heap to the entrance at the southeast corner of the quadrangle, and 

 therefore occupying the other semi-diagonal of the square, there is 

 another double line of workers constantly engaged in carrying the 

 booty from the central deposit into the storehouses below-ground. 

 These workers are exclusively composed of Class II, whose whole life 



