262 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. 



Gould, says they never inteniiit their labours by night 

 or by day, except when compelled by excessive rains. 

 It is probable the ancients were mistaken in asserting 

 that they only work when the moon shines;* for, 

 like bees, they seem to find no difficulty in building 

 in the dark, their subterranean apartments being as 

 well finished as the upper stories of their buildings. 

 But to proceed with the narrative of M. P. Huber. 



" Having thus noticed the movements of these 

 insects during the night, I found they were almost 

 always abroad and engaged about the dome of their 

 habitation alter sunset. This was directly the reverse 

 of what I had observed in the conduct of the wood- 

 ants, (F. rufa,) who only go out during the day, and 

 close their doors in the evening. The contrast was 

 still more remarkable than I had previously supposed; 

 for upon visiting the brown ants some days after, 

 during a gentle rain, I saw all their architectural 

 talents in full play. 



" As soon as the rain commenced, they left in 

 great numbers tlieir subterranean residence, re-entered 

 it almost immediately, and then returned, bearing 

 between their teeth pellets of earth, which they de- 

 posited on the roof of their nest. I could not at first 

 conceive what this was meant for, but at length I 

 saw little walls start up on all sides with spaces left 

 between them. In several places, columns, ranged at 

 regular distances, announced halls, lodges, and pas- 

 sages, which the ants proposed establishing; in a 

 word, it was the rough beginning of a new story. 



'^ I watched with a considerable degree of interest 

 the most trifling movements of my masons, and 

 found they did not work after the manner of wasps 



* Aristotle, Hist. Animal, ix. 38. Pliny says " Operantur 

 et noctu plen = lun ; eadetii iiiterlunio cessant," i.e. They 

 work in the night at full moon, but they leave off' between 

 moon and moon. It is the latter that we think doubtful. 



