Carpenter -Ants. 301 



CARPENTER-ANTS. 



The ants that work in wood perform much more exten- 

 sive operations than any of the other carpenter insects 

 which we have mentioned. Their only tools, like those of 

 bees and wasps, are their jaws or mandibles; but though 

 these may not appear so curiously constructed as the oviposi- 

 tor file of the tree-hopper (Cicada), or the rasp and saw of 

 the saw-flies (Tentliredinidce), they are no less efficient in the 

 performance of what is required. Among the carpenter-ants, 

 the emmet or jet-ant ( F. fuliginosa) holds the first rank, and 

 is easily known by being rather less in size than the wood- 

 ant, and by its fine shining black colour. It is less common 

 in Britain than some of the preceding, though its colonies 

 may occasionally be met with in the trunks of decaying oak 

 or willow trees in hedges. 



"The labourers," says Huber, "of this species work 

 always in the interior of trees, and are desirous of being 

 screened from observation : thus every hope on our part is 

 precluded of following them in their several occupations. 

 I tried every expedient I could devise to surmount this diffi- 

 culty ; I endeavoured to accustom these ants to live and work 

 under my inspection, but all my efforts were unsuccessful ; 

 they even abandoned the most considerable portion of their 

 nest to seek some new asylum, and spurned the honey and 

 sugar which I offered them for nourishment. I was now, by 

 necessity, limited to the inspection only of their edifices : 

 but, by decomposing some of the fragments with care, I hoped 

 to acquire some knowledge of their organization. 



"On one side I found horizontal galleries, hidden in 

 great part by their walls, which follow the circular direction 

 of the layers of the wood ; and on another, parallel galleries, 

 separated by extremely thin partitions, having no communi- 

 cation except by a few oval apertures. Such is the nature 

 of these works, remarkable for their delicacy and lightness. 



"In other fragments I found avenues which opened 

 laterally, including portions of walls and transverse par- 

 titions, erected here and there within the galleries, so as 



