Wars and Slavery in the Animal Kingdom. 83 



he is seized and put to death. As a rule, only the 

 dwarfish, yellow, thieving ants (Solenopsis fugax in 

 Europe and S. molesta in N. America), may pilfer in 

 the neighboring nest of a larger species. The small, 

 black lawn-ant (Tetramorium caespitum, in Europe 

 and N. America) will occasionally do the same. These 

 thievish little ants are in the nests of larger species, 

 what rats and mice are in the abodes of man. 



To return to the "compound nests." By turning 

 over the stone, under which several different ant 

 species live side by side in separated nests, the par- 

 titions are suddenly removed, and a fierce battle 

 ensues with great loss of life on both sides. The 

 engagement frequently continues for a considerable 

 time after the stone has been replaced. Only after 

 the boundary-lines have been perfectly restored, is 

 there again peace between the neighboring states. 

 Sometimes on such occasions it becomes evident that 

 one colony is numerically far superior to the other. 

 In this case we notice that the weaker is simply driven 

 out of his nest, which is then entirely or in part occu- 

 pied by the victor. Thus the war ends with the 

 "territorial expansion" of the more powerful state. 



Above-ground disputes between neighboring ant 

 colonies, not infrequently lead to fights, which last 

 for weeks or even months, interrupted by longer or 

 shorter periods of "armistice." These battles are most 

 obstinate and bloody between different colonies of the 

 small, black lawn-ants (Tetramorium caespitum). 

 This species is found everywhere, frequently with 

 hundreds of thousands of earth-nests within a square 

 mile. On July 8, 1886, I saw a regular battlefield on 



