G20 HYMENOPTERA. 



which they enter by the opening that is made when the Cynips 

 leaves. A few of these, which have large heads, appear to be 

 the workers. These ants often swarm in houses. 



The SLAVE-MAKING or Rufescent Ants, F. rufescens, make 

 war upon other ants, for the sole purpose of procuring slaves to 

 labor for them. Most of the slave dealers are reddish, while 

 those who are captured to become their servants are black. Be- 

 sides adults, however, larvae and pupaa are seized, and brought 

 up by their captors, commencing their labors when they reach 

 their perfect state ; yet their masters do some part of the work. 

 According to Westwood, the large Yellow Ant of the United 

 States, makes slaves of the Black Ants. 



Certain Ants, called COW-KEEPERS, are very fond of the 

 liquid matter which is given out by the Aphides, or Plant-lice, 

 and actually attend upon these " Honey-flies," as Swainson calls 

 them, for the purpose of obtaining it. They even have the 

 power of making them yield it at their pleasure, by patting the 

 abdomen of the Aphis alternately on each side ; and thus they 

 " milk their cows." They are called " Cow-keepers," for the 

 reason that they sometimes seem to claim a right to the Aphides 

 inhabiting a particular branch or stalk, and resist the approach 

 of strangers. To rescue the " Cows " from their rivals, they 

 will take the Aphides into their mouths, keep guard around them, 

 sometimes enclose a certain number in a tube of earth, or other 

 materials near their nests, so that they may be always at hand 

 to supply them with the desired food. The most remarkable 

 Cow-keeper is the Yellow Ant, F. flava, of Gould, which secures 

 within the common nest, a large number of Honey-flies of the 

 species Aphis radicum, (Lat. of roots,) which derives its food 

 chiefly from the roots of grass and other plants. The Yellow 

 Ants, it is said, bestow upon these little creatures care and solic- 

 itude equal to that which they give to their own offspring. In 

 -India, the honey-like secretion which the Aphides cast upon the 

 ground, is so abundant in quantity that the natives collect it when 

 dry, and sell it in the country bazaars as a sweetmeat. The 

 honey, it is said, may be kept for seven or eight years, without 

 losing its sweetness. In Brazil, the insects not only furnish ants 

 with milk, but, ruminant-like, have horns growing out of their 

 heads ; and hence are called the "cattle ".of the ants. 



The DRIVER ANTS, of South Africa, according to the observa- 

 tions of Dr. T. S. Savage, an American missionary to that re- 

 gion, include in their communities, Neuters, Soldiers, Workers, 

 and Carriers. These do not construct nests, 'but live tempora- 

 rily in crevices, sometimes " ranging about in vast armies," and 



