in.] LONGEVITY ASSOCIATION OF ANTS. 75 



much longer, and could compare their experiences, ants 

 would, from their immense numbers, even in temperate 

 regions, contend with mankind on no such very unequal 

 terms. 



The behaviour of ants to one another differs very 

 much, according as they are alone or supported by 

 numerous companions. An ant which would run away 

 in the first case, will fight bravely in the second. 



It is hardly necessary to say that, as a general rule, 

 each species lives by itself. There are, however, some 

 interesting exceptions. The little Stenamma Westwoodii 

 is found exclusively in the nests of the much larger F. 

 rufa, and the allied F. pratensis. We do not know 

 what the relations between the two species are. The 

 Stenammas, however, follow the Formicas when they 

 change their nest, running about among them and 

 between their legs, tapping them inquisitively with their 

 antennae, and even sometimes climbing on to their 

 backs, as if for a ride, while the large ants seem to take 

 little notice of them. They almost seem to be the dogs, 

 or perhaps rather cats, of the ants. Another small 

 species, Solenopsis fugax, which makes its chambers 

 and galleries in the walls of the nests of larger species, 

 is the bitter enemy of its hosts. The latter cannot 

 get at the foe, being too large to enter the galleries. The 

 little Solenopsis, therefore, are quite safe, and, as it 

 appears, make incursions into the nurseries of the larger 

 ant, and carry off the larvae as food. It is as if we had 

 small dwarfs, about eighteen inches to two feet long, 

 harbouring in the walls of our houses, and every now 

 and then carrying off some of our children into their 

 horrid dens. 



