576 INSTINCTS OF ANTS. 



interfere with the continuation of the species. This appears to 

 be a special adaptation of their peculiar instinct ; 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 Negro Ants may be found ; these 

 scouts, having discovered the object of their search, return to 

 their nest and report their success. Shortly afterwards, the 

 army of Red Ants marches forth, headed by a vanguard, con- 

 sisting of eight or ten Ants only, which is perpetually being 

 changed, the individuals which constitute it, halting, when they 

 have advanced a little before the main body, falling to the rear, 

 and being replaced by others. When they have arrived near the 

 Negro colony, they disperse, wandering through the herbage, and 

 hunting about, as if aware of the neighbourhood of the object of 

 their search, yet ignorant of its exact position. At last they 

 discover the settlement ; and the foremost of the invaders rush- 

 ing impetuously to the attack, are met, grappled with, and 

 frequently killed by the Negroes on guard. The alarm is 

 quickly communicated to the interior of the nest ; the Negroes 

 sally forth by thousands; and the Red Ants rushing to the 

 rescue, a desperate conflict ensues, which, however, always 

 terminates in the defeat of the Negroes, who retire to the 

 innermost recesses of their habitation. Now follows the scene of 

 pillage. The Red Ants, with their powerful mandibles, tear 

 open the sides of the Negro Ant-hill, and rush into the heart of 

 the citadel. In a few minutes each of the invaders emerges, 

 carrying in its mouth the pupa of a worker Negro ; which it has 

 obtained in spite of the vigilance and valour of its natural 

 guardians. The Red Ants return in perfect order to their nest, 

 bearing with them their living burthens. On reaching the nest, 

 the pupae appear to be treated precisely as their own ; and the 

 workers, when they emerge, perform the various duties of the 

 community with the greatest energy and apparent good-will ; 

 they repair the nest, excavate passages, collect food, feed the 

 larvae, take the pupaa into the sunshine, and perform every office 

 which the welfare of the colony seems to require ; in fact, they 

 conduct themselves entirely as if fulfilling their original des- 

 tination.* 



* The details of this Appendix have been chiefly taken from Mr. Newman's 

 very excellent " Familiar Introduction to the History of Insects." 



