346 INSECT MISCELLANIES. 



the nest, and ready to set forth. They proceeded 

 like a torrent along a deep hollow, and marched in a 

 more compact body than ordinary, till they arrived at 

 a nest ot" miners, which they intended to attack. 

 As soon as the invading army began to enter the 

 subterranean city, the miners rushed out in crowds, 

 and whilst some fell upon the invaders with great 

 spirit, others passed through the scene of contest, 

 solely occupied in bearing off the larvas and pupae to 

 a place of safety. The surface of the nest was for 

 some time the theatre of war. The legionaries were 

 often despoiled of the pupse they had captured by the 

 miners, who darted upon them with fury, fighting 

 body to body, and disputing the ground with an 

 exasperation I had never before witnessed. The 

 legionary army, however, gained the victory, and 

 recommenced its march in good order, laden with 

 booty ; but instead of proceeding in file, it now main- 

 tained close rank forming a compact mass, a precau- 

 tion more necessary, as the courageous miners has- 

 tened in pursuit, and continued to harass their march 

 to within ten paces of their citadel.'^ 



This conduct of Ruber's miners contrasts strongly 

 with the behaviour of a colony of the same species, 

 upon which we made some experiments. The 

 difference, no doubt, arose from the very different 

 circumstances of the case. Desirous of seeing 

 what would follow, we threw a considerable number 

 of the minute black ant [Formica contrada^ Latr.), 

 with their pupae, upon the surface of a hill inhabited 

 by miners ; but the latter, so far from attacking the 

 intruders, fled from them with the utmost alarm 

 whenever they encountered them. Imagining that 

 his might arise from the virulent character of the 

 black ants, we afterwards introduced a similar num- 

 ber of the more pacific negroes (F. fusca) ; but 



* Huber on Ants, p. 292. 



