23ictt0nan> of 



21 



quarter, give a kind of stability to the edifice: 

 it daily increases in size, the Ants taking 

 care to leave the spaces required for the 

 galleries which lead to the exterior ; while 

 the dome contains a number of spacious 

 chambers or recesses, which communicate 

 with each other by means of galleries con- 

 structed in a similar manner. Thus we see 

 that although the exterior of the hillock 

 always presents the appearance of a dome, 

 and appears but a careless heap, it is in re- 

 ality a most ingenious device for keeping out 

 water, for evading the effects of the wind, 

 and the attacks of enemies ; and yet more 

 especially for receiving and husbanding the 

 heat of the sun. There are external aper- 

 tures, to permit free egress to the multitude 

 of labourers of which the commonwealth is 

 composed ; and from the commencement of 

 the warm season they are constantly em- 

 ployed, till the unpropitious winter again 

 suspends their exertions, and terminates 

 their annual industry. 



The working Ants are not only employed 

 in sustaining the idlers at home, but in pro- 

 viding sufficient food for themselves. They 

 subsist on various provisions, both animal 

 and vegetable ; killing and devouring all 

 weaker insects, as well as in seeking ripe 

 fruits and whatever appears to contain sac- 

 charine matter. When they are unable to 

 eat the whole of the substance they have 

 found, they devour what they can j and, 

 tearing the rest in pieces, load themselves 

 with the spoil. When they meet with an 

 insect which they are singly incapable of 

 mastering, several of them join in the at- 

 tack ; its destruction generally follows, each 

 Ant assisting in carrying away a portion of 

 the booty. When a single Ant chances to 

 make a fortunate discovery, it immediately 

 communicates the information to others, 

 and the whole republic soon appear in mo- 

 tion. But while they are thus busied in 

 feeding abroad, and carrying in provisions 

 for the use of those which continue inactive 

 at home, they are by no means unmindful 

 of posterity. The female Ants soon begin 

 to lay their eggs, which are immediately 

 carried to the safest situation, at the bottom 

 of the hill, where they are assiduously de- 

 fended by the labourers, who always display 

 the fondest attachment to the rising progeny, 

 either attending to the safety of the larvae, 

 or in feeding the newly born insects. Who, 

 indeed, has not seen them, when the gardener 

 or some formidable enemy has demolished 

 their whole habitation, affectionately soli- 

 citous of their offspring, and running wildly 

 about, each loaded with a young one, not 

 unfrequently as large as itself. 



For some time the new born Ants remain 

 under the careful superintendence of the la- 

 bourers : they are attended in all their 

 wanderings about the nest, and are made 

 acquainted with all its galleries and cham- 

 bers : the wings of the males and females, 

 previously folded together, are extended, 

 and this is always accomplished with such 

 skill and tenderness, that these delicate 

 members are never injured by the operation: 

 in fine, these founders of future colonies are 

 in all respects served with unremitting at- 



tention until their final departure from the 

 nest. 



In the autumn, says Mr. Newman, we fre- 

 quently observe one of their hillocks closely 

 covered with a living mass of winged Ants, 

 which continue to promenade, as it were, 

 over its entire surface : they mount on every 

 plant in the vicinity of their nest, and the 

 labourers (for now the entire population of 

 the nest has turned out) accompany them 

 as closely as possible, following them to the 

 extreme tip of every blade of grass; and when 

 at length those possessed of wings spread 

 them in preparation for flight, the labourers 

 will often hold them back, as if loath to 

 trust them alone. . . . When the air is warm 

 and still they rise in thousands, and sailing, 

 or rather floating on the atmosphere, leave 

 for ever the scene of their former existence. 

 Each female, immediately on alighting from 

 her aerial voyage, examines the situation in 

 which chance has placed her, and if she find 

 it adapted to her purpose, she turns her head 

 back over her shoulders, and with her sharp 

 mandibles tears off the wings which bore her 

 from the place of her nativity. Strange as 

 this propensity may seem, it is dictated by 

 an unerring instinct, for the object for which 

 wings were given her is now accomplished, 

 and henceforth they would prove an in- 

 cumbrance, and retard rather than assist, 

 the performance of her duties. Sometimes 

 a few workers, wandering at this period of 

 excitement far from 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. 



The ingenious author we before quoted 

 gives a very curious account of what he 

 terms the Slave Ants, which in substance is 

 as follows : The most remarkable fact con- 

 nected with the history of Ants, is the pro- 

 pensity possessed by certain species to kid- 

 nap the workers of other species, and compel 

 them to labour for the benefit of the com- 

 munity, thus using them completely as 

 slaves ; and, as far as we yet know, the kid- 

 nappers 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 

 ,bout ten weeks, and never commences until 

 the male and female Ants are about emer- 

 ng from the pupa state, and thus the rutli- 

 ss marauders never interfere with the con- 

 tinuation of the species. This appears to be 

 a special adaptation of their peculiar in- 

 stinct ; for if the attacks were made on the 

 nests of the Negro Ants, before those by 

 whom the race is propagated are ready to 

 issue forth, it must speedily become extinct. 

 When the Red 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 



