638 THE STUD Y OF INSECTS. 



large article of food, too heavy for it to carry, it goes for 

 aid, and the first fellow it meets it pats with its antennae, 

 and the two start off together for the booty. If a nest is 

 attacked the workers or soldiers rush around and stroke each 

 other with their antennae, and thus evidently give warning 

 and plan a battle for protection. In case an ant finds a 

 comrade in distress it shows great solicitude and activity in 

 giving relief. Yet there are some species that, like the 

 Spartans, kill off the feeble and old, as useless to the colony. 

 When a portion of a colony is removed and kept imprisoned 

 for a time, and then returned, there is great rejoicing on 

 both sides. Gould says they have a way of standing on 

 their hind legs and prancing around under such circum- 

 stances, as well as when they enter the cell of their queen, 

 that indicates great joy. Sometimes they get to be very 

 hilarious and wrestle with each other, and carry each other 

 around as if it were a part of a game that they found amus- 

 ing — a sort of formic football. 



But it is in their wars that the ants show that they are 

 trained athletes. They do most of their fighting with their 

 jaws, but they also eject upon each other an acrid fluid called 

 formic acid. They are very courageous, and will attack a 

 man as readily as a grasshopper. They seem in a great rage 

 when they fight, and are fierce beyond belief. After a 

 battle the field is strewn with legs, heads, and bodies. They 

 usually wage war against other species, but sometimes two 

 colonies of the same species will go to war if their nests 

 happen to encroach upon each other. When an army is 

 ready to go forth for conquest, scouts are sent out and the 

 army waits till they return before it starts. Very often 

 these armies go forth to capture slaves, for there are several 

 species of ants that are slaveholders, and by strange coin- 

 cidence the slaves are dark colored, while the masters are 

 light. When a depredating army sets forth it proceeds to 

 the black colony, which defends itself fiercely ; if the be- 

 sieged blacks are overcome, the conquerors carry off all the 



