MARIA SIBILLA MERIAN. 41 



ing food than either oats or barley. From these 

 the ants are produced, which, after changing their 

 skin, acquire wings and lay eggs, from which spring 

 the worms, for whose support the ants labour with 

 such unceasing diligence ; in these warm countries, 

 however, they have no occasion to make provision 

 against the cold, since there is no winter. They 

 excavate passages in the earth to the depth of eight 

 feet, so neatly formed that they might be supposed 

 to be the work of human art. When they wish to 

 cross from one place to another between which 

 there is no passage, they form a bridge in the fol- 

 lowing manner, the first clings to a piece of wood, 

 which he seizes firmly between his teeth, a second 

 follows the first and adheres to him, and in like 

 manner a third and fourth, each supported by his 

 predecessor ; in this state they hang exposed to the 

 wind, till a blast brings the free end in contact with 

 the point which they desire to reach, and a bridge 

 is thus formed, which serves for the passage of 

 thousands. The ants carry on a perpetual war 

 with spiders and all other insects that inhabit this 

 country. When they issue from their excavations, 

 which they do twice in the year, their numbers are 

 so great that they fill the houses, and run from one 

 apartment to another, killing all the smaller animals 

 and sucking their juices. They devour one of the 

 large spiders, formerly mentioned, in a moment, 

 attacking it in such crowds that it is wholly unable 

 to escape. Even man himself is obliged to take 



