

882 



MUSEUM OP ANIMATED NATURE. 



[Insects. 



ground atables, in ^r«at numbera, and not only those 

 which are lull-Krown, but the ens* a""! J'oung, 

 which are carefully nursed and attended to. Huber 

 iiay« that in a nest of the yellow-anl, at the loot of an 

 oak, he once found the ef^gs of the aphis peculiar to 

 that tree (Aphis Quercus). 



Emigrations of ants, from some cause or other, 

 onen take place. In our country the fallow-ant 

 F. rufa) is the most noted for this procedure; but 

 in hotter countiles many species perform migra- 

 tions, and in vast armies traverse whole districts, 

 and ravage the land as they proceed. Professor 

 Afzelius, speaking of a species at Sierra Leone, 

 states that they march in columns, exceeding all 

 powers of calculation ; and always pursue a straight 

 course, from which nothing causes them to deviate. 

 If they come to a house, or other buildini;. they 

 either storm or undermine it ; if a river opposes 

 Uiem, though millions perish in the attempt, they 

 perseveringly endeavour to cross it. 



Wars often take place between colonies of different 

 species, and sometimes between rival colonies of the 

 same species. Generally, however, colonies of large 

 ants are the aggressoi^ upon those of a smaller spe- 

 cies, who, nothing daunted, meet their oppressors 

 in determined conflict, and by dint of superior num- 

 bers not unfrequently remain mastei-s of the field. 



Rual colonies of the fallow-ant (F. rul'a) occasion- 

 ally engage in battle, and Huber details the conflict 

 as one of determined obstinacy on both sides; the fury 

 of the combatants preventing them from paying at- 

 tention to human spectators. Thousands of cham- 

 pions engage in single combat ; thousands rush to the 

 mSl^e ; every individual knows the combatants on its 

 own side, and the strife rages till night puts an end 

 to the carnage. The next morning it is renewed, and 

 often for several days in succession. The prisoners, 

 it would seem, are dragged to the hostile encamp- 

 ment and killed. Thus, like the rival squadrons be- 

 fore the walls of Troy, do they feel the •certaminis 

 gaudia;" and if no Muse has celebrated the Myrmi- 

 donomachia, as Kirby and Spence well term it, nor 

 described in verse the exploits of a mimic Hector, 

 Achilles, or Tydides, it is because valour meets not 

 always with a bard : — 



•* Vixt're fortes ante Ai^memnonii 

 Multi ; ted omne^ illachryinabtlcs 

 Dr^entur if^otiqtie lon^'a 

 Noete ; event quia vkce sa«*ro." 



Horace. 



But certain ants undertake proceedings which, 

 thoutjh involving combats, are conducted for other 

 purposes than the mere gratification of revenge — 

 proceedings so strange, that had not Huber, .lurine, 

 ijitreille, Kirby and Spence, either witnessed them 

 or had proof positive of the facts, we might treat the 

 whole account with ridicule. 



There are two species of ant common on the con- 

 tinent, but which are not found, or are very rare, in 

 our island; they are called Legionary ants : one, the 

 rufescent ant (F. rufescens), the other the sangui- 

 neous ant (F. sanguinea), and it is to these that the 

 account relates. The colonies of most ants consist 

 of an assemblage of the same species, but in these 

 instances the general rule is set aside ; for the work- 

 ers or neuters of these ants procure, by force, auxili- 

 aries or slaves of the same caste as themselves, but 

 of a different species, for the purpose of availing 

 themselves of their labour. The enslaved ants are of 

 two species— a black ant (F. fusca), and a mining 

 ant (F. Cunicularia). 



From the form of their jaws, says Latreille, and the 

 accessory parts of their mouth, it is impossible for 

 the rufescent ants either to prepare habitations for 

 their family, to procure food, or to feed them ; and 

 thus necessity induces them to make slaves of others. 

 The rufescent ants do not set forth on their expedi- 

 tions, which are kept up for about ten weeks, till the . 

 males are ready to emerge at the perfect state; and ! 

 " it is very remarkable that if any individuals attempt ! 

 to stray abroad earlier, they are detained by the 

 slaves, who will not suffer them to proceed — a won- jl 

 derful provision of the Creator, to prevent the black ] 

 colonies from being pillaged while they contain only 

 a male and female brood, which would be their total , 

 destruction, without bringing anyadvantaue to their j 

 assailants, to whom neuters alone are useful." j, 



The time of issuing forth is from two in the after- jl 

 noon till five, during fine clear weather. The army [ 

 proceeds in a dense column, which winds through the 

 grass to the distance of thirty or forty feet from the i 

 habitation whence they have issued ; they then scat- [, 

 ter themselves abroad, exploring the ground with 

 their antennse, in order to detect the traces of the 

 negro race ; the negro village is soon discovered: its 

 inhabitants, aroused to a sense of their danger, rush 

 out to defend the precincts ; the battle rages, but the 

 besiegers prevail ; pressine: onwards they drive the 

 iies;ro population to their village and enter with them 

 or make IJreaches in the walls; the fugitives seek the 

 lowest story; the pillage commences, and soon the 

 army in triumph returns laden with spoil, each war- 

 rior having in its mouth a captive larva or pupa, 

 which it brings home \o slavery. 



Their assault upon the habitation of the mining- 

 ant, which, when they cannot meet with that of the 

 black ant, they resolutely attack, is a more difficult 

 affair. The miners fight with desperation, and dis- 

 pute every inch of their territory, defending their 

 progeny to the last ; and when the rufescent retire 

 laden with their captives, they harass their rear, and 

 for a <:onsiderable distance keep up an incessant 

 skirmish. 



The excursionsof the sanguineous ants are managed 

 somewhat diiferently ; they sally forth in small 

 bands, which are reinforced from time to time as 

 necessity may require, and are olten kept at bay by 

 the resolute negroes, till at length a large column 

 arrives to their support ; frequent skirmishes precede 

 a general battle, the negroes forming a body to re- 

 ceive the assault. The combat is often for a long 

 time dubious; at last, repulsed on every side, the 

 black population retreat, and endeavour to cany off 

 the pupa! which tlipy have previously heaped toge- 

 ther; the assailants pucsue, and force their charge 

 from them ; while some enter the village and seize 

 all the laivBB they can find there. 



In both instances, these nursling captives (for the 

 aduits are never taken prisoners) are carried home 

 and trusted to the care of neuters of their own spe- 

 cies that have been, like them, captured when young, 

 and to the duties of which they will in turn succeed. 

 By the slaves thus obtained, and which are by no 

 means ill-treated, not only the young prisoners of 

 their own race are nursed, but also the young of their 

 masters; they labour in every respect the same as 

 they would have done in their native colony, except- 

 ing that they have to bring food to their masters, 

 and carry them from chamber to chamber ; for these 

 [ warlike ants, as we see among savage tribes, brave 

 as they are in combat, are indolent in the extreme, 

 and, moreover, in the case at least of the rufescents, 

 are really dependent upon their slaves. Where the 

 slaves consist of a mixture of black ants and miners, 

 they share the labours of the community between 

 them ; and often far outnumber their masters, whom 

 on some occasions they seem rather to command 

 than obey, even to the extent of manifesting their 

 anger to any that happen to return from a predatory 

 excursion without a captive. The fact is, that though 

 captives in the first instance, the black ants or the 

 miners are really the masters and preservers of the 

 rufescent colony, and looked up to accordingly. For 

 the sake of experiment Huber " shut up thirty rufes- 

 cents with larviE and pupae of their own kind, and 

 several negro pupae, in a glazed case, excluding any 

 neuter slaves. Incredible as it may appear, they 

 made no attempt to feed themselves, and though at 

 first they paid some attention to the larvae, carrying 

 them about, they soon laid them down. Most of them 

 died with hunger in two days, and the few that re- 

 mained alive appeared weak and liuiguid. At length, 

 commiserating their condition, Huber admitted a 

 single negro, and this active little slave by itself re- 

 established order, made a cell in the earth, collected 

 the larva; and placed them in it, assisted the pupae 

 that weie ready to be developed, and preserved the 

 life of the neuter rufescents that still survived." 

 With regard to the sanguineous ants, they are much 

 more active than the rufescents ; they assist in the 

 in-door labours of the colony, in the collection of sac- 

 charine juice from aphides, and in the repairs of the 

 habitation ; they hunt also lor a small species of ant 

 on which they feed, and which they drag for slaugh- 

 ter to their fortress. They are the first to rouse in 

 defence of the community, and in times of danger 

 or before an engagement carefully place their faith- 

 ful slaves in the lowest chambers of the nest, as 

 places of the greatest security. 



Such, then, is a sketch of the general habits and 

 instincts of some of the more remarkable of our Eu- 

 ropean ants, which are detailed more at large by W. 

 Gould, Huber, Kirby and Spence, and others. In 

 some respects the economy of these insects is more 

 surpiisins; than that of bees or wasps, and demon- 

 strates the energy and elevation of that ruling prin- 

 ciple which impels them to acts we might attribute 

 to reason, to operations we might be pardoned for 

 questioning, but which it is proved they accomplish, 

 (lisplaying in their undertakings perseverance, indus- 

 try, and well directed co-operation. Fig. 366J repre- 

 sents several ants, and their structures : a, fuliginous 

 ants" nest in a tree ; b, the fuliginous ant ; c, the yel- 

 low-ant, and nest ; d, the fallow-ant and nest ; e, nest 

 of the yellow ant built over the margin of a streamlet, 

 as observed by Mr. Sly ; f, Formica eniarginata; g, 

 Formica ligniperda. 



In most ants the workers and females are fur- 

 nished with a stini; ; in some, however, as F. san- 

 guinea, F. cunicularia, F. fusca, &c., there is no 

 sting. They belong to the order Hynienoptei'a, as 

 do the ichneumon-flies, bees, and wasps. 



A group of insects called Termites, or termite 

 ants, belonginir to the order Neuroptera, are re- 

 markable both for their habits and the edifices which 

 they construct, and of which the most credible tra- 

 vellers in Africa, India, and South America have 



given us extraordinary accounts. These insects, of 

 I which there are several species (often termed while 

 !•■ ants), are many of them social in their habits, like 

 true ants, living together in numbers which dely cal- 

 , culation. Some species buiid firm and solid struc- 

 tures of clay, like towers or pyramids, as the Termes 

 \ bellicosus (T. latalis, Linn.) in Senegal. Others 

 make galleries in the ground; some excavate aged 

 ! trees, which contain within them a vast population, 

 i Some make a long covered-way spirallv running up 

 , the trunk and along the branches of trees, to their 

 city, which, as large as a sugar-cask, is supported bv 

 the branches, and is composed of particles of wood 

 firmly glued together, as is the covered-way also. 



Of the economy of the Termes bellicosus. common 

 in various parts of Africa, Mr. Smeathman u'ves a 

 full account in the 71st vol. of the 'Phil. Trans.' 

 The houses of this termite are pyramidal, or of the 

 shape of a pointed haycock, and oidinarfly twelve 

 feet high ; they are built of firm clay, and soon co- 

 vered with a coating of grass, so that a cluster of 

 them at a distance resembles a negro village. The 

 Ij upper part of this huge hive, like an empty garret, 

 :, is not used; but the lower part contains various 

 :j chambers and galleries, all tenanted ; and here it 

 must be premised that the tocieties of these insects 

 arc divided into five orders or castes; 1st, wurkers, 

 which are laivae, at:d compose the majority of the 

 population; upon them devolves the office of erect- 

 ing and repairing the building, of collecting pro- 

 vision, of attending upon the queen, or female, and 

 conveying the eggs laid by her to the nuiseiies, and 

 feeding the young till able to take care of them- 

 selves : 2dly, pupie, or nymphs ; these resemble the 

 larvae, or workers, excepting that they present the 

 rudiments of wings. Smeathman regards thtm as 

 soldiers, but Latreille, from observations on a Euro- 

 pean species (Termes lucifugus), found near Bor- 

 deaux, consideis the soldiers to be neuters: adopting 

 his views, we may say then, 3dly, soldiers ; these are 

 less numerous than the working population, beingas 

 1 to 100. They greatly exceed the workers in bulk, 

 and may besides be distinguished by their large 

 head and long mandibles ; they act as sentinels and 

 defenders of the city; they are wingless: 4lhly, a 

 sijigl'j female, or queen : 5tbly, a single male, or king. 

 The male and female have at first four wing<, but 

 these are soon lost ; they have, moreover, large 

 eyes, which in the soldiers are either very small or 

 wanting. 



A hive of termites may be said to ' swarm" on the 

 approach of the rainy season. The swarm consists 

 of newly perfected males and females with expanded 

 wings. Of these myriitds emerge from the hive and 

 fill the air, which carries them onwards and often 

 drifts them out to sea. Birds and reptiles make 

 them their prey, nor do the semi-barbarous tribes 

 hesitate to add them to their fare. Smeathman in- 

 deed regards them as delicacies. Of many millions 

 few pairs survive the general destruction, but the 

 few that escape the various casualties which assail 

 them are found by the workere, which traverse the 

 ground in quest of them. As soon as the workers 

 discover a pair, they immediately begin to protect 

 them from their enemies by enclosing them in a 

 small chamber of clay, the rudiment of a new colony. 

 Here they are kept guarded, as honoured prisoners, 

 the entrance being too small to allow of their escape. 

 In a short time the queen enlarges very greatly, the 

 body being enormously distended with eggs ; for the 

 reception of these the workers construct nurseries, 

 composed of wooden materials joined together with 

 gum and cased with clay. Magazines of clay are 

 also constructed, and form a labyrinth of cells and 

 galleries, and the conical or domed outer case is 

 built up. The number of eggs laid in one sea>on is 

 incalculable ; she lays about sixty eggs per minute, 

 for several days in succession, and lives through two 

 years. The young are attended by the workers, till 

 capable of labouring in their turn.'when they exert 

 themselves in altering and adding to the building. 

 In the centre of a maze of cells is the royal cham- 

 ber, or rather state prison, in which the male and 

 female are guarded ; it was originally the centre of 

 a small domed nest, but alterations and additions 

 have extended the circumference of the building, 

 and raised the dome to the height of ten or twelve 

 feet. The termites are not only builders, but miners 

 also. They maks underground clay tunnels from 

 their hives to various parts, many of these tunnels 

 being as wide as the bore ofa small cannon. These 

 tunnels run obliquely three or four feet deep into 

 the ground ; some lead to the quarry of clay whence 

 they derive the materials for the erection and repair 

 of their dwelling. Others branch out ho'izontally 

 in every direction to a great distance. Moreover, 

 they form vaulted roads above ground, conducting 

 to different places where jirovisions are to be pro- 

 cured. These consist of particles of wood, the gum 

 of various trees, and the inspissated juices of plants. 

 Spiral galleries also run round the vaulted edifice, 

 communicating with the maze of chambei's and with 

 the roads and underground tunnels. 



