213 
respecting the (Economy of Ants. 
have a provident instinct, and others be destitute of it. With a 
view of inviting inquiry and investigation on the statement before 
us, I have drawn up a few queries, which, if satisfactorily an- 
swered, may tend to remove all difficulties, and settle a long dis- 
puted point. 
1st. What is the general food of our European ants ? 
2dly. What is the food of the A tta providens and other species 
of Asia ? 
3dly. Do exotic ants, particularly those of the genus Alta, derive 
any sustenance from Aphides ? If not, the ceconomy of 
the races are distinct, and it is probable that the hoarded 
grains are their usual food. 
4thly. Do the ants of tropical countries become torpid during any 
part of the year ? Probably not. 
In concluding these observations, I have only to add, that I 
think it probable that the ant, of which Solomon has made men- 
tion, belongs to the genus Alta; and if at present or at any future 
time this point can be settled, the most appropriate name would 
be Alta Solomonis* 
* Since the above remarks were written, I have met with a passage in Meer 
Hassan Ali’s History of the Mussulmauns, giving an account of a species of red 
ant which stores up grain. It is as follows : — “ More industrious little creatures 
cannot exist than the small red anls, which are so abundant in India; I have 
watched them at their labours for hours, without tiring ; they are so small that 
from eight to twelve in number labour with great difficulty to convey a grain of 
wheat or barley, yet these are not more than half the size of a grain of English 
wheat. I have known them to carry one of these grains to their nest, at a dis- 
tance from 600 to 1000 yards; they travel in two distinct lines over rough or 
smooth ground, as it may happen, even up and down steps, at one regular pace. 
The returning unladen ants invariably salute the burthened ones, who are making 
their way to the general storehouse, but it is done so promptly that the line is 
neither broken, nor their progress impeded by the salutation. The natives tell 
me these little pests will feed on the human body if they are not disturbed ; when 
ar.y one is sick there is always great anxiety to keep them away.” — Vide vol. ii. 
p. 99. Wherever the red ants colonize, prosperity attends (as is the common opi- 
nion) the owners of that house. They destroy the white ants, though the dif- 
ference in their size is as a grain of sand to a barley-corn, and on that account 
only may be viewed rather as friends than enemies to man, provided by the same 
divine Source from whence all other benefits proceed. Vide Meer Hassan Ali’s 
History of the Mussulmauns, p. 102. 
