Ants as Spring-cleaners* 



135 



Space, however, compels us to abridt^e it somewhat. The presence of the birds 

 tirst attracted Mrs. Carmichacl's attention. 



" I asked the house-neiiress, who at that moment came up from the garden, 

 what could be the cause of the appearance of those blackbirds ? She said ' Misses, 

 dcm be a sign of the blessing of God ; dey are not de blessing, but onh' de sign, 

 as we say. of God's blessing. Misses, \-ou'll see afore noontide how the ants will 

 come and clear the houses.' At this moment I was called to breakfast, and thinking 

 it was some superstitious idea of hers, I paid no further attention to it. 



" In about two hours after this, I observed an uncommon number of chasseur- 

 ants crawling about the floor of the room ; m\- children were annoyed by them, 

 and seated themselves on a table, where their legs did not communicate with the 

 floor. The ants did not crawl upon my person, but I was now surrounded by them. 

 Shortly after this, the walls of the room became covered by them ; and ne.xt they 

 began to take possession of the tables and chairs. I now thought it necessary to 

 take refuge in an adjoining room . . . and this was not accomplished without 

 great care and generalship, for had wc trodden upon one we should ha\e been 

 summarilv punished. There were several 

 ants on the top of the stair, but they 

 were not nearlv so numerous as in the 

 room we had left ; but the upper room 

 presented a singular spectacle, for not 

 onlv were the floor and the walls covered 

 like the other room, but the roof was 

 covered also. 



" Tfie open rafters of a West India 

 house at all times aff:ord shelter to a 

 numerous tribe of Insects, more par- 

 ticularlv the cockroach ; but now their 

 destruction was inevitable. The chas- 

 seur-ants, as if trained for battle, 

 ascended in regular, thick files, to the 

 rafters, and threw down the cock- 

 roaches to their comrades on the floor, 

 who as regularh' marched off with the 

 dead bodies of cockroaches, dragging 

 them awa\" b\' their united efforts with 

 amazing rapidity. Either the cock- 

 roaches were stung to death on the 

 rafters, or else the fall killed them. 

 The ants never stopjx'd to devour their 

 prey, but conveyed it all to their store- 

 houses. 



" The windward windows of this 

 room were of glass, and a battle now 

 ensued between the ants and the jack- 



Photoby] [E.SU-t>, r.L.S. 



FoR.\GiNG Ant. 



One of till" foraging ants— the sickle-jawed species— that engage in 

 the welcome work of house-cleaning in parts of South .America and 

 some of the neighbouring islands. The sickle-shape of the great jaws 

 is well >l)own in the photograph, which is four times the actual size 



of the ant. 



