THE COMMUNITY OF THE ANTS 



and fro in a warlike manner, with their tails in the air, emitting, 

 at the slightest touch, a strong-smelling fluid; but they hid them- 

 selves from the soldiers and workers, and were apparently watching 

 only for the defenceless winged sexual forms. 



The different species of Leafcutting Ant display very great differ- 

 ences in the arrangement of their fungus-gardens. In many forms 

 these are as large as a man's head ; in others the gardens hang down 

 from the roof of the cliambers. Many species even manure the fungus 

 with caterpillar-dung instead of with leaf-mould. Others, again, dig 

 trenches in the soil, and cover them with leaves and dry twigs. 



But how, we may ask, does the fungus find its way into a newly- 

 founded ants' nest? Well, the nest is founded by a fertilized female, 

 in silent solitude. These ants are not accompanied by blustering 

 swarms, like those that escort the queen bee; they seem to have 

 learned their lessons from the silence and darkness in which they 

 live. The nuptial flight alone affords a striking and conspicuous 

 spectacle. 



Among the ants, as among the bees, the workers are females, 

 whose sexual organs are stunted by a special diet, while their weapons, 

 those tools which they carry with them in the form of their mandibles, 

 have developed all the more vigorously, together with their remark- 

 able instincts, so that in these respects they are greatly superior to 

 the males. On the other hand, the sexually mature females, or 

 queens, have to do very much more than is required of the queen bee. 



When the breeding-season approaches thousands of male and 

 female ants rise into the air ; for at this critical period of their lives 

 both the sexual forms are endowed with wings, an inheritance 

 from their wasp-like forbears (Plate 29, II, 13). The swarm rises 

 high into the air, and the union of the sexes is consummated in the 

 midst of a swirling dance, while the sun glitters on their transparent 

 wings. 



In the case of the Sauvas, however, fertilization appears to take 

 place in the old nest — that is, underground. But the queen may not 

 seek the open air immediately after her nuptials; she has first of 

 all an important duty to fulfil. Quietly she enters one of the fungus- 

 nurseries, and takes into a specially formed pocket in her gullet a 

 tiny tuft of fungus. Now she is ready for her journey ; she walks out 

 of the nest and unfolds her wings. 



In Pernambuco, and a few months earlier in Sao Paulo, I en- 

 countered the Sauvas at their breeding-season; and on every side, 

 on the paths and in the meadows, I saw females of the size of a 



309 



