CH. VII.] ANTS. 139 



and compact, was entirely formed of earth ; it con- 

 tained an extensive family of insect-cows, sheltered 

 from the inclemencies of the weather, and protected 

 from their enemies. These edifices are not always 

 constructed near the bottom of the thistle-stalk; 

 once Huber saw one at the height of five feet from 

 the ground. " These proceedings," says he, " are 

 by no means common : we cannot attribute them to 

 an habitual routine." Indeed, the modes of pre- 

 serving their cattle seem to be as various as those 

 practised by man. Some ants receive their food 

 from the aphides which suck the juices of the com- 

 mon plaintain, and these at first take their station 

 near the flower of the plant ; as soon as the flowers 

 wither, these insect-cows take shelter under the 

 radicle leaves ; upon which the ants, which before 

 had climbed up to them, now surround them with a 

 mud wall, and, making a covered gallery by way of 

 communication between their nest and the "Dad- 



I 



dock," extract food from them at their convenience 

 and pleasure. 



During autumn, winter, and spring, many species 

 of ants keep aphides. Indeed, in winter they would 

 be exposed to the horrors of a famine, did they not 

 rely for food on their cattle ; for though they become 

 torpid when exposed to intense cold, yet, for the 

 most part, the depth of their nests preserves for 

 them a temperature sufficiently high to prevent this 

 contingency. Their milch cows are then kept on 

 the roots of the plants which penetrate the interior 

 of the nest, and furnish an abundant supply of liquid 

 in which their keepers delight. And not only is the 

 full-grown animal kept, but its eggs are watched 

 and guarded with that care which warrant us in 

 supposing that the ant knows their full value. 



It is of real consequence to the ants that the hatch- 

 ing of the eggs of the aphides should take place as 

 early in the spring as possible, in order to ensure an 

 early supply of food for their colony ; and with the 



