196 INSECTS. 



they appear to be doomed, still even that service 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 continuing their kind. 



" When the Eed Ants are about to sally forth on a 

 marauding expedition, they send scouts to ascertain the 

 exact position in which a colony of negroes may be 

 found. These scouts having discovered the objects of 

 their search, return to the nest and report their success. 

 Shortly afterwards the army of Red Ants marches forth, 

 headed by a vanguard, which is perpetually changing ; 

 the individuals which constitute it, when they have 

 advanced a little beyond the main body, halting, falling 

 into the rear, and being replaced by others. This van- 

 guard consists of eight or ten ants only. When they 

 have arrived near the negro colony they disperse, wander- 

 ing through the herbage and hunting about as if aware 

 of the propinquity of the object of their search, yet 

 ignorant of its exact position. At last they discover 

 the settlement, and the foremost of the invaders, rush- 

 ing impetuously to the attack, are met, grappled with, 

 and frequently killed by the negroes on guard. The 

 alarm is quickly communicated to the interior of the 

 nest ; the negroes sally forth by thousands, and the Eed 

 Ants rushing to the rescue, a desperate conflict ensues, 

 which, however, always terminates in the defeat of the 

 negroes, who retire to the inmost recesses of their 

 habitations. Now follows the scene of pillage. The 

 Red Ants with their powerful mandibles tear open the 

 sides of the negro ant-hill and rush into the heart of 

 the citadel. In a few minutes each of the invaders 

 emerges, carrying in its mouth the pupa of a working 

 negro, which it has obtained in spite of the vigilance 



