THE ANTS. 259 



sticks, leaves, and other materials, which, although 

 rough and irregular in its external appearance, pre- 

 sents considerable art in its internal arrangement. 

 Another British species, the Jet Ant {F. fuliginosa) , 

 forms its nests in the trunks of old trees, which it 

 excavates in a most remarkable manner ; and some 

 foreign species build a nest of clay, like the White 

 Ants, of a substance resembling paper prepared from 

 vegetable matters, and even of the dung of the larger 

 animals. It is difficult to quit a subject so attractive 

 as the history of these interesting little creatures 

 whilst so much remains untold, but my space warns 

 me that of the minor details of formicary existence I 

 must only refer to a few of the more prominent, and 

 that with all possible brevity. The food of these in- 

 sects appears to consist for the most part of animal 

 matters, and in pursuit of it they display great cou- 

 rage, often seizing upon creatures much larger than 

 themselves, and destroying them by the mere force 

 of numbers. They are also exceedingly fond of sweets, 

 and in search of these not only visit the flowers, but 

 also suck up the honey-dew from the leaves of trees, 

 or procure it directly from its producers, the Aphides. 

 So fond are they in fact of the sweet secretion of 

 these insects, that they often keep a small flock of 

 them in or near their nests ; upon these they attend 

 with the greatest care, occasionally stroking them 

 with their antennae to induce them to give forth a 

 drop of the sweet fluid which issues from the two 

 small tubular processes placed at the back of the 

 abdomen of the Aphis, From this circumstance the 

 Aphides have been denominated the ^^ Ants' milch- 

 cows.^' Industrious as they are, therefore, the ac- 

 counts given to us of their storing up grain for food 



