140 THE NATURE-STUDY REIVE IF | s : S -may, i 9 o 7 



army. In less than thirty seconds, the whole army is assembled in a mass 

 before the nest of the Rufibarbis, on the surface of which they throw them- 

 selves with a second movement of incomparable swiftness. This was not 

 wasted; for the Rufibarbis having perceived the arrival of the enemy the 

 moment the vanguard stopped, a few moments had sufficed for them also to 

 cover the dome of their nest with defenders. An indescribable scuffle now 

 follows, but in spite of it, the greater part of the armv of the Polvergus 

 pierces within through all the openings. In the same instant, a stream of 

 Rufibarbis emerges out of the same holes carrying hundreds of cocoons, 

 larva? and pupae fleeing in all directions * * * The Amazons remain 

 hardlv a minute within the nest and come out in myriads from the holes each 

 one with a cocoon, a larvae or a nymph. But no sooner is the head of the 

 armv again on its return than the scene changes once more. The Rufibarbis 

 observing that the enemy is in flight throw themselves with energy in pursuit. 

 Thev grasp the Amazons by the legs and seek to tear the pupae away from 

 them. If a Rufibarbis attaches itself to a cocoon which an Amazon is carry- 

 ing, the latter lets her mandibles slip down over the cocoon to the head of the 

 Rufibarbis. In most cases, the latter lets go. If she does not, the Amazon 

 grasps her head between her mandibles and if this does not suffice, then she 

 pierces her head '■'■'- * * Having reached home, the Amazons bring 

 their bootv within and do not go out again on that dav. The Rufibarbis 

 also return to their nest with the cocoons which thev had saved from the 

 pillage * * * On the next day, at about the same time, these same 

 Amazons plundered the Rufibarbis nest again.'' 



The captured young, now properly located within the nest, 

 soon hatch and finding themselves in the presence of their con- 

 querors, begin at once to perform those duties which their par- 

 ticular structure or caste makes necessary, precisely as if they had 

 been born among their own kin. No attempt is made to escape, 

 but rather in addition to their own work the}' now do nearly 

 everything that pertains to the life of their masters. 



For the Amazons can do nothing for themselves. The all- 

 important tool of the ant, her mandibles, have been converted 

 into a pair of thin and finely pointed sabres (Fig. 2 b). These 

 are, to be sure, most effective weapons of offence, but as instru- 

 ments of work, they are quite worthless. The Polyergus ants 

 are thus incapable of digging their tunnels, or of caring for 

 their own young which they produce in large numbers. What 

 is most astounding, however, is the fact that they have lost 

 the power of feeding themselves. It has been most clearly 



