The Scottish A T aturalist. 221 



The food consists of a great variety of animal and 

 vegetable substances — other insects, carrion, snails, dew, honey 

 from flowers, honey-dew from leaves, and the sweet honey-like 

 fluid discharged by the aphides, all compose the bill of fare of 

 the ant. 



Then, when necessity arises, they have to fight for 

 their nest, and courageous fighters they are — nothing seems to 

 daunt them. Their weapons of defence and offence are their 

 strong jaws, and their supply of formic acid. Some species of 

 ant have stings, but the ant we have under consideration — For- 

 mica rufa — is not provided with a sting. The formic acid is 

 secreted in a special poison-bag, and is ejected with great force 

 from the tail of the ant. When challenged or irritated, a hill- 

 ant stands upon its hind-legs, jerks its tail forwards, and 

 squirts out the acid. The acid has rather a pleasant smell, and 

 a decidedly pleasant taste. (Should any of our readers be 

 anxious to taste it, the following is the best recipe I can give, 

 and is one which I have often put in practice, — " Catch 8 or 10 

 ants together, put them on to the middle of your tongue, and 

 keep them there for a few seconds — you may then eject them." 

 The advantage of having several ants at a time is, that they 

 catch hold of one another, and not of one's tongue. Another 

 plan of eating formic acid is to take a lot of ants and pound them 

 up with snow : this plan I have not tried — it has been used in 

 Spain.) On disturbing a nest of the hill-ant, there arises a tre- 

 mendous discharge of the acid, thousands of tiny jets rising to 

 the height of about six or eight inches above the nest; and, on 

 plunging the hand into the recesses of the hill — a proceeding 

 which is sometimes necessary — the smell of the formic acid 

 that clings to the hand is so strong as to catch the breath. 

 One word of advice to those who meditate the investiga- 

 tion of an ant-hill, — Do not let any of the formic acid get into 

 your eyes. 



The inhabitants of one nest of Formica rufa are said some- 

 times to wage war against the inhabitants of another nest. This 

 proceeding I have not witnessed, but Huber has given an 

 account of a battle he saw, and a translation of his account 

 may be found in " Kirby & Spence." * 



*Introd. to Entomology, 7th ed., p. 327. 



