ANTS, BEES AND WASPS 167 



L. fuliginosus, another species common in Britain, makes its 

 dwelling in the hollows of old trees or decaying stumps of wood, 

 forming the chambers and galleries with a sort of cardboard made 

 from masticated wood-dust worked up with a viscid secretion 

 of its salivary glands. This species, known as the " Jet Ant," 

 is a shiny black, and much larger than the Garden Ant, L. niger. 

 A tribe of these Jet Ants will often colonise a number of old trees 

 in proximity to one another, and keep up a system of friendly 

 intercommunication. If one habitation is attacked, the inmates 

 will in some way signal to their allies, who at once dispatch detach- 

 ments of workers to their assistance. By this means the Jet Ants 

 are able to hold their own against all invaders, who are soon over- 

 whelmed and routed by the combined armies. 



Certain species of ant are particularly addicted to the habit 

 of raiding the nests of other tribes and carrying off the larvae and 

 pupae, either for use as food or to train Up as servants to the colony. 

 The Warrior Ant, Formica sanguined, the only slave-making ant 

 found in England, makes its nest in banks and is much like the 

 large Wood Ant in appearance. Although perfectly able to do all 

 the work of the colony without assistance, the Warrior Ants from 

 time to time make organised raids on the nests of several other 

 tribes, particularly on those of the little Black Ant, Formica fusca. 

 Then, after a battle royal, in which the larger species usually come 

 off conquerors, the warriors march back in triumph, each one 

 carrying in its jaws a larva or pupa from the ravaged nest. 



The captives are carefully tended by the Sanguinea until their 

 metamorphosis is completed, and the stranger ants then act as 

 willing slaves for the rest of their lives, and it is said are more 

 skilful and hard-working than their masters. 



The Amazon Ants (Polyergus rufescens) are a most extraordinary 

 tribe of slave-makers. Dependence for ages on the help of slaves 

 has rendered them incapable of working for themselves, and their 

 mandibles have degenerated into mere toothless nippers, so that they 

 are unable even to feed themselves. The slaves in an Amazon 

 colony build and keep the nest in order, nurse the larvae, and feed 

 their owners, who would perish in the midst of plenty if no slaves 

 were at hand to attend to their needs. The only thing the Amazon 

 Ants can do for themselves is to fight. At this they are adepts ; 

 they are very courageous, and their strong nippers, which are 



