AGRICULTURAL ANTS 



fallen stalks of grass, and weeds as huge to her as tree- 

 trunks to the woodman. They were scarcely noticed 

 when the ant was empty-handed. But they are trouble- 

 some barriers now that she has a load quite as thick, 

 twice as wide, and half as long as herself. 



It is interesting to watch the strength, skill, and 

 rapidity with which the little porter swings her burden 

 over or around, or pushes it beneath these obstacles. 

 Now the seed has caught against the herbage as she 

 dodges under a too -narrow opening. She backs out 

 and tries another passage. Now the sharp points of 

 the husk are entangled in the grass. She pulls the 

 burden loose and hurries on. The road is reached at 

 last, and progress is easy. Holding the grain in her 

 mandibles well above the surface, the ant breaks into 

 a trot, and a pretty fast one, and, without further in- 

 terruption, except the elbowing of her fellows, gets 

 safely home. There are variations from this behavior, 

 more or less marked, but this is a typical example of 

 the mode of ingathering an ant harvest. The work is 

 wholly individual, at least as the author saw it. There 

 is no working in gangs, no overseers; each ant is a 

 law unto itself. But thousands of individuals are on 

 the harvest-grounds, and the aggregate of their labor 

 is great. 



Meanwhile other workers are issuing from the gates 

 bearing what seem to be seeds. Curious ! Are these creat- 

 ures working at cross-purposes ? Here at one side of the 

 disk they are dumping their loads, and quite a heap has 

 already been formed. Let us look at them. They are 

 not seeds, but husks! This is a kitchen-midden, and 

 inside those gates the work of husking the grain is going 

 on. What a merry " shucking - bee " it must be! — to 



91 



