50 HISTORY OF INSECTS. 



their home, may happen to meet with her, and if so, they 

 unite their labours with hers in excavating a small and 

 humble dwelling in the earth, which serves as the nucleus 

 of a future colony : in all operations the female, now a 

 queen, takes a most energetic part, and continues to labour 

 until she has laid eggs, when the conduct of the workers 

 undergoes a great change, for they now treat her with the 

 most marked respect, and consider her worthy the honours 

 of a sovereign. But it not unfrequently happens that the 

 queen or mother ant, excavates without assistance her future 

 dwelling-place, and in perfect solitude lays her eggs, feeds 

 the larvae, and pays every requisite attention to the pupae. 



Slave Ants. The most remarkable fact connected with 

 the history of ants, is the propensity possessed by certain 

 species to kidnap the workers of other species, and compel 

 them to labour for the benefit of the community, thus using 

 them completely as slaves ; and, as far as we yet know, the 

 kidnappers are red or pale-coloured ants, and the slaves, 

 like the ill-treated natives of Africa, are of a jet black. 



The time for capturing slaves extends over a period of 

 about ten weeks, and never commences until the male and 

 female ants are about emerging from the pupa state, and 

 thus the ruthless marauders never interfere with the con- 

 tinuation of the species : this instinct seems specially pro- 

 vided, for were the slave ants created for no other end than 

 to fill the station of slavery to which they appear to be 

 doomed, still even that office must fail were the attacks to 

 be made on their nests before the winged myriads have 

 departed, or are departing, charged with the duty of con- 

 tinuing their kind. 



When the red ants are about to sally forth on a ma- 

 rauding expedition, they send scouts to ascertain the exact 

 position in which a colony of negroes may be found ; these 

 scouts having discovered the object of their search, return 



