ii2 INSECT BEHAVIOR 



and lays her first eggs. This first brood of antlings must be fed and 

 tended by the queen herself, until upon reaching maturity they are 

 able to take up the labor for their sovereign. Brood after brood are 

 hatched and reared and as each ant becomes a finished product she 

 assumes her part of the responsibility. Thus, by the end of a season, 

 the young queen becomes indeed a royal mother of a loyal army of 

 supporters, workers and soldiers. 



Interesting and wonderful are the ants known as the slave makers, 1 

 species that actually organize raids upon the nests of ants of another 

 species for the purpose of stealing their eggs and kidnapping their 

 young. At the start of such a raid, some little resistance is usually 

 offered by the tribe that has been attacked, but owing to the sudden 

 and unexpected nature of these bombardments, the slave makers are 

 often successful. They are fearless and strong and quite willing to 

 die, if need be, in attempting to secure an egg or antling from the 

 pillaged nest. 



Sometimes the defending insects will form a circle about the nest, 

 which serves to keep the enemy off, until other members of the colony 

 have had time to snatch up eggs and young and make for safety by 

 some back door or passageway. But ants that have nearly made good 

 their escape are often chased, cornered and robbed of their precious 

 burdens by the alert and watchful slave makers. 



When the raid has been brought to a successful end, the attacking 

 party returns with its booty to the home nest where it is welcomed, 

 perhaps cheered by the non-combatant members of the colony. 



The supply of stolen eggs and young are now raised to maturity, 

 after which in the case of one species, they become subjected to abso- 

 lute slavery. The reflex of this habit upon the Slave Makers is just 

 what one would expect; deterioration. The entire work of a nest is 

 often put upon the shoulders of the slaves and in some cases, the war- 



1 Formica sanguinea and Polyergus rufescens, both slave-making species. 



