228 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. 



It is usual with architectural insects to employ some 

 animal secretion, by way of mortar or size, to temper the 

 materials with which they work ; but the whole economy 

 of ants is so different, that it would be wrong to infer 

 from analogy a similarity in this respect, though the 

 exquisite polish and extreme delicacy of finish in their 

 structures, lead, naturally, to such a conclusion. M. P. 

 Huber, in order to resolve this question, at first thought 

 of subjecting the materials of the walls to chemical analysis, 

 but wisely (as we think) abandoned it for the surer method 

 of observation. The details which he has given, as the 

 result of his researches, are exceedingly curious and in- 

 structive. He began by observing an ant-hill till he could 

 perceive some change in its form. 



" The inhabitants," says he, " of that which I selected, 

 kept within during the day, or only went out by subter- 

 ranean galleries which opened at some feet distance in 

 the meadow. There were, however, two or three small 

 openings on the surface of the nest ; but I saw none of 

 the labourers pass out this way, on account of their being 

 too much exposed to the sun, which these insects greatly 

 dread. This ant-hill, which had a round form, rose in the 

 grass, at the border of a path, and had sustained no injury. 

 I soon perceived that the freshness of the air and the dew 

 invited the ants to walk over the surface of their nest ; 

 they began making new apertures ; several ants might be 

 seen arriving at the same time, thrusting their heads from 

 the entrances, moving about their antennee, and at length 

 adventuring forth to visit the environs. 



" This brought to my recollection a singular opinion of 

 the ancients. They believed that ants were occupied in 

 their architectural labours during the night, when the moon 

 was at its full."* 



M. Latreille discovered a sj^ecies of ants which were, so 

 far as he could ascertain, completely blind,t and of course 

 it would be immaterial to them whether they worked by 

 night or during the day. All observers indeed agree that 



* M. P. Huber on Ants, p. 23. 



t Latreille Hist. Nat. des Fourmis. 



