HARVESTING ANTS. 163 



up to the very noses of the lizards, while the male or 

 female which should chance to stra^-o-le in the same 

 direction would infallibly be eaten up. The lizards 

 plainly show their fear of the workers by the way in 

 which, when they make up their mind to try a dash 

 at some outlying part of the ant colony, they leap 

 through the lines in the utmost haste as if traversing 

 a ring of fire. 



Now these worker ants are destitute of stings, and 

 I can only suppose that their power of combination, 

 stronger jaws and more horny coats, have gained 

 them this immunity. I remarked that the smaller 

 lizards appeared to have some difficulty in dealing 

 with the males and females which they captured, and 

 would beat and pound them against the stones before 

 devouring them, while the larger ones would often 

 make but one mouthful of them, swallowing wings 

 and all ! 



If it were not for this body-guard of workers it is 

 difficult to see how the males and females in such 

 situations could ever escape. It is also plain that if 

 the worker harvesting ants were as liable to be seized 

 and devoured as their winged companions, the species 

 would soon become extinct, for they expose themselves 

 more than ants ordinarily do, and their long pro- 

 vision-laden trains would be almost at the mercy of 

 any enemy which could attack them without fear of 

 results.* 



* Speaking of the enemies of ants, I may mention having seen a young robin 

 in England picking up and swallowing the workers of Formica nigra just as 

 if they were crumbs. 1 knew that birds would eat the male and female ants, 

 but I had thought the workers were exempt from their attacks, and, indeed 

 they must be so as a rule, for otherwise they would speedily become extinct. 



