204 BRITISH ANTS. 



tions of this species are constructed in nature. He writes : 

 " This ant, one of the most industrious of its tribe, forms its nest of 

 stories, four or five lines in height. The partitions are not more 

 than half a line in thickness, and the substance of which they are 

 composed is so finely grained, that the inner walls present one 

 smooth, unbroken surface. These stories are not horizontal : they 

 follow the slope of the ant-hill, and lie one upon the other to the 

 ground-floor, which communicates with the subterranean lodges. 

 They are not always, however, arranged with the same regularity, 

 for these ants do not follow an invariable plan ; it appears, on the 

 contrary, that nature has allowed them a certain latitude in this 

 respect, and that they can, according to circumstances, modify 

 them to their wish : but, however fantastical their habitations may 

 appear, we always observe they have been formed by concentrical 

 stories. On examining each story separately, we observe a number 

 of cavities or halls, lodges of narrower dimensions, and long galleries, 

 which serve for general communication. The arched ceilings 

 covering the most spacious places are supported, either by little 

 columns, slender walls, or by regular buttresses. We also notice 

 chambers that have but one entrance, communicating with the 

 lower story, and large open spaces, serving as a kind of carrefour, or 

 cross-road, in which all the streets terminate." 8 



The ants add to the height of their dwelling during and after 

 rain, by bringing up from below small particles of earth and placing 

 them on the top of the nest, and much of their work is done at 

 night. Huber very carefully watched this operation on one of 

 their ant-hills, which had a round form and rose in the grass. He 

 says : ' ' As soon as the rain commenced, they left, in great num- 

 bers, their subterranean residence, re-entered it almost immedi- 

 ately, and then returned, bearing between their teeth pellets of 

 earth, which they deposited on the roof of their nest. I could not, at 

 first, conceive, what this was meant for, but at length I saw little 

 walls start up on all sides with spaces left between them. In several 

 places, columns, ranged at regular distances, announced halls, 

 lodges, and passages, which the ants proposed establishing ; in one 

 word, it was the ebauche of a new story. . . . Each ant, then, 

 carried between its teeth the pellet of earth it had formed, by 

 scraping with the end of its mandibles, the bottom of its abode, 

 which I have often witnessed in open day. This little mass of 

 earth, being composed of particles but just united, could be readily 

 moulded as the ants wished : thus, when they had applied it to 

 the spot where it was to rest, they divided, and pressed against it 

 with their teeth, so as to fill up the little inequalities of their wall. 

 The antennae followed all their movements, passing over each 

 particle of earth as soon as it was placed in its proper position. The 

 whole was then rendered more compact, by pressing it lightly with 

 the forefeet. This work went on remarkably quickly. After 



