ON THE HABITS OF ANTS. 41 



with very large jaws. These latter are generally supposed to act as 

 soldiers, and the size of the head enables the muscles whicli move the 

 jaws to be of unusual dimensions, though the little ones are also very 

 pugnacious. Tiiis differentiation of certain individuals so as to adapt 

 them to special functions seems to me very remarkable ; for it must 

 be remembered that the difference is not one of age or sex. 



The food of ants consists of insects great numbers of which they 

 destroy of honey, honey-dew, and fruit ; indeed, scarcely any animal 

 or sweet substance comes amiss to them. Some species such, for 

 instance, as the small brown garden ant ascend bushes in search of 

 aphides. The ant then taps the aphis gently with her antennas, and 

 the aphis emits a drop of sweet fluid, which the ant drinks. Some- 

 times the ants even build covered ways up to and over the aphides, 

 which, moreover, they protect from the attacks of other insects. Our 

 English ants do not collect provision for the winter indeed, their 

 food is not of a nature which would admit of this. Some southern 

 species, however, collect grain, occasionally in considerable quantities. 

 Moreover, though our English ants cannot be said exactly to lay ujd 

 stores, some at least do take steps to provide themselves with food 

 in the future. The small yellow meadow ant {Lasius Jlavus), for 

 instance, lives principally on the honey-dew of certain aphides which 

 suck the roots of grass. The ants collect the aphides in the nest, 

 not only watching over them themselves, but, as I have been able 

 to satisfy myself, even over their eggs an act which one is much 

 tempted to refer to forethought, and which in such a case implies a 

 degree of prudence superior to that of some savages. Besides these 

 aphides, many other insects live in ants' nests. If they are to be 

 regarded as domestic animals, then ants have more domestic animals 

 than we have. The majority of these ant-guests are beetles. Some 

 of them as, for instance, the curious little Claviger are quite blind, 

 and are only found in ants' nests, the ant taking just as much care 

 of them as of their own young. It is evident, therefore, that in 

 some way they are useful or agreeable to the ants. The subject, 

 however, is one as yet but little understood, and very difficult to 

 study. Grimm and Lespes consider that some of these beetles secrete 

 a sweet fluid like the aphides, and from analogy this seems probable. 

 Other creatures which habitually live in ants' nests, like the little 

 Beckia albinos or the blind woodlouse {Platyarthrus), perhaps make 

 themselves useful as scavengers. 



Nor are ants without their enemies. In addition to birds and 

 other larger foes, if you disturb a nest of the brown ants at any time 

 during the summer, you will probably see some very small flies 

 hovering over them, and every now and then making a dash at 

 some particular ant. These flies belong to the genus Phora^ and to 

 a species hitherto unnamed, which Mr. Verrall has been good enough 

 to describe for me. They lay their eggs on the ants, inside which 



