168 THE MOST GIFTED INSECT EAOE. 



turccl by the other, and was being carried into the nest 

 by the captor. 



The nest into which the ant was being carried was by 

 far the largest in the neighbourhood, and it really 

 seemed as if its rulers would suffer no rival establish- 

 ments, and were merging them in the one great central 

 nest. 



There are some species of ants which are absolutely 

 dependent on their slaves, and would die but for their 

 help. Such, for example, is the Polyergus rufescens of 

 Southern Europe, popularly called the Slave-maker. 



This insect carries out to the fullest extent the idea 

 prevalent in the Middle Ages, that labour of any kind is 

 a degradation. Fighting was the only occupation worthy 

 of a noble ; and fighting is not simply the only occupa- 

 tion Avorthy of a Slave-maker Ant, but is the only one 

 which it is able to follow. It can fight most fiercely, 

 but it can do nothing else. On its slave-hunting expedi- 

 tions it is fierce, active, and formidable. At home it is 

 helpless. It can invade the dwellings of other ants and 

 carry them off as slaves, but without the help of those 

 slaves it would die. 



It cannot make its own dwelling, it cannot provide 

 supplies of daily food, it cannot bring up its own young, 

 and, worst of all, it cannot even feed itself, for its jaws, 

 although formidable as weapons, seem incapable of pick- 

 ing up food. All these offices have to be performed by 

 the slaves. 



If the creatures multiply and require a fresh dwelling, 



