226 RELATION OF ANTS 
withdraw their trunk from the cavity in 
which it was inserted; they afterwards 
took them up gently in their mandibles, 
and carried them with the-same care as 
the larve of their own species. I wit- 
nessed the same ant remove, successively,. 
three of these insects, much larger than 
itself, and convey them to a darkened 
chamber.* ‘There was one which made 
* T have often been surprised at the strength, as: 
well as address, occasionally displayed by ants. At 
the entrance of a nest of Red Ants, I placed a large 
house-fly ; several ants came out from time to time, 
to examine it. But what was my surprise, to see a 
solitary ant attempt the removal of so large a body: 
it caught hold of one of the wings forcibly by its 
pincers, and exerted all its strength to drag it along. 
This it did with apparent ease, where the ground 
was not uneven; but on meeting any obstruction, 
and finding the dragging system useless, it quitted 
its post for the opposite station, and overcame the 
resistance by pushing. In this way it removed the 
fly to aconsiderable distance. A difficulty at length 
presented itself, which I thought insuperable. The 
ant, however, did not relax in its exertions: after 
attempting to drag it for some time, it endeavoured 
to push it forward, going alternately to the several 
parts of the body. All these efforts were useless. 
In this emergency it seized the fly in its mouth, and 
