WARS OF ANTS. 179 
That kind of aggression which is prac- 
tised by considerable armies, and is ma- 
nifested in frequent combats, widely dif- 
fers from the artifices of those insects 
that take their prey by surprise ; — some 
by means of nets which they spread, 
others by the aid of those ingenious 
snares into which ants themselves uncon- 
sciously fall. * It is only to the wars in 
* There are some animals, that from living al- 
most entirely on ants, have obtained the name of 
ant-eaters, (Myrmecophaga). On paying its ac- 
customed visit to the ant-hill, this animal makes a 
considerable disturbance, and then extends its 
long and tapering tongue on the ground. The 
ants, coming out to see what is the matter, un- 
aware of the nature of the trap laid for them, pass 
on the tongue in great numbers, where they are re- 
tained by a thick viscous fluid. The Woodpecker 
occasionally adopts a similar plan, and thus pro- 
cures an abundant repast; but the most ingenious 
contrivance to entrap ants, is that practised by a 
little insect termed the Ant-Lion, ( Myrmeleon For- 
micarius). ‘This insect in its larva state, can walk 
no other way than backward; it is therefore evi- 
dent, that its prey must come immediately within 
its reach, since it is unprovided with the means of 
advancing to secure it. To effect this, it forms a 
1 6 
