Nov. 1, 1S70.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



243 



species of dry hide. They appear glad of any portable 

 food which they can carry down below with greater 

 ease for the benefit of the numerous males, females, 

 and youug domesticated there ; and for this reason I 

 kept them supplied with a little brown sugar, which 

 afforded easy transportation. I often gave them 

 small dead flies, all of which soon disappeared, and I 

 noticed that they were always carried down the same 

 burrow. I once gave them a full-grown house-fly, 

 which a single ant, by dint of great exertions, lifted 

 up and dragged two or three inches to the hole, into 

 the opening of which he threw it ; the fly, however, 

 stuck in the centre and it would go no further. 

 Several ants then came and had a try at it : one ant 

 vainly attempted to pull it out again ; another dug 

 to enlarge the opening ; whilst a third reduced the 

 fly's dimensions by cutting off its legs and wings. 

 Their united efforts were successful; aftertwo or three 

 hours' hard labour it slowly sank beneath the surface. 

 I have two or three times seen them attack, and 

 subsequently devour, flies which had incautiously 

 found their way a short distance down one of the 

 holes. I witnessed a most exciting contest when 

 a very large fly got completely down into one of 

 the galleries by the glass : two or three dozen 

 ants rapidly emerged from the neighbouring exits, 

 and setting upon the fated insect, by repeated bites 

 they soon compelled it to succumb. It was too large, 

 and the space was too confined to allow \them to 

 remove it as it was, so it was eaten on the spot, 

 and I was able through a lens to watch very per- 

 fectly the whole process. I saw an ant several times 

 with great labour cut off small portions of the meat 

 and convey it inside for the benefit, I suppose, of 

 the females, &c, who resided there. Wasps they 

 were also very fond of, and several they completely 

 gutted, once even taking below the entire abdomen 

 of one of these insects. I generally found their 

 empty husks either dragged to the furthest confines 

 of their abode, or else thrown right over into the 

 water. I also feel sure that tbey have strong can- 

 nibal propensities, and eat the sickly or maimed 

 members of their own species, as all the dead ones 

 that I have found in the water have been much 

 shrunk and shrivelled, and one large female which 

 they threw in turned out on examination to be 

 nothing but an empty shell. Huber remarks that 

 "the attachment of the labourers to the females 

 would appear to continue after their death; for 

 when a pregnant female dies, five or six labourers 

 rest near her, and during several days brush and 

 lick her continually, either in token of lasting affec- 

 tion, or that by these means they hope to reanimate 

 her." Any one who has seen ants devouring a wasp 

 will at once perceive that Huber mistook their 

 cannibalism for affection for their dead. I have 

 several times seen two or three live but sickly ants 

 disappear down the provision-hole, borne in the 

 jaws of a companion. 



I have noticed that when I put down a fresh 

 eatable, the first ant that comes to it merely touches 

 it with its antennae, and instantly runs down the 

 nearest hole. A minute or so afterwards several 

 will pour out, and march straight to it. This looks 

 as though the one informed the others. I once 

 tried whether sherry would intoxicate them, but 

 though one fell right into it, he walked away when 

 dry, just as steadily as usual, though I have 

 frequently seen wasps and flies, after falling into 

 beer or wine, fly away, showing every symptom of 

 inebriation. 



Though I had often read that ants sucked the 

 honey-dew from the Aphides, or plant-lice, I had 

 always regarded it as one among the many fables 

 that have been published about them ; but noticing 

 some red ants running about on an oak-gall, which 

 was infested with clusters of these creatures, I 

 placed it in my case. Two or three ants ran upon 

 it, and I could see them apply their mouths to the 

 abdomens of the Aphides, one after the other, 

 agitating their antenna; the whole time. Evidently 

 it neither killed nor hurt the Aphides. I also tried 

 them with lice from the ivy, with the same result, 

 and ants would run at intervals throughout the 

 day to regale themselves on the honey-dew. Though 

 writers have affirmed that they keep Aphides in 

 their nests to milk as it were like cows, I never 

 saw mine make any attempt to remove them from 

 where I had stationed them. My diet was evidently 

 acceptable, as they kept strong and healthy, and, 

 when anything very tempting was provided for 

 them, their abdomens would visibly distend as they 

 ate. When they were hard at work, a great deal 

 more food would be consumed than at other times, 

 and, as autumn drew on, they ate little or nothing. 



My ants were very careful to keep their domain 

 clean and neat. All remains of dead insects, little 

 fragments of meat, cases of cocoons, and dead ants, 

 were taken down the glass, to the edge of the moat, 

 and dropped in ; and legs, earth, wings, and so on, 

 were always floating on the surface of the water. 

 They will often carry enormous loads when 

 engaged in this occupation. I have sometimes seen 

 lying there the entire abdomen of a wasp, and, once 

 finding a female ant drowned in the tank, I re- 

 placed it on the platform, upon which a neuter 

 took even this heavy load, soaked it as it was with 

 water, and, dragging it to the edge, threw it in 

 again. In spite of their strength, their tread must 

 be wonderfully light, since they will walk heavily 

 burdened up a crumbly and perpendicular shaft 

 without displacing a grain, whereas, if I touched it 

 ever so lightly myself, it would crumble in; in 

 fact, it has always been incomprehensible to me 

 how the whole structure keeps together. 



Once, finding a dead ant in the water, I placed it 

 on the edge of one of the glass sides. As soon as 

 it was discovered, great consternation seemed to 



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