183G.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



829 



lie earth, and covered with a glass bell ; scarcely 

 did she perceive tiie earth which covered the bot- 

 tom of her abode, when siie extended her wings, 

 with some elFort bringing thcni belbre lier head, 

 crossing thcin in every direction, throwing them 

 (rom side to side, anil |)roducing so many singular 

 contortions, that her fonr wings lell oil' at the same 

 moment, in his presence. Al'icr this change, she 

 reposed, brushed her corslet, traversed the ground, 

 evidently seeking a place of siielter; she partook 

 of the honey he gave her, and at last Ibund a hi- 

 ding i)lace under some loose earth." 



Huber might well be astonished at the coolness 

 with which the female ant appeared to throw off 

 her wings : one would have thoiight that as nuich 

 proportionate sufiering would have been It^lt m her 

 tiny frame, from the loss of these members, as in 

 ours fi'om the amputation of all our limbs ; but in- 

 sects in general do not appear to be sensible of 

 much pain. A wasp will walk about, and even eat, 

 after his body has been cut into two, and a dragon 

 fly will voraciously devour its prey after the remo- 

 val of its abdomen. 



Having cast olfits wings, the fecundated female 

 begins to prepare a habitation for herself In some 

 cases, however, the workers do not allow all the 

 females to quit the old nest; but detaining some 

 of those which have been impregnated, clip their 

 wings and keep them close prisoners so long, that 

 at last they become reconciled to their fate, and 

 prepare to lay eiigs. As if still afraid that the im- 

 pregnated female should depart, a single ant is ap- 

 pointed to watch her rnotions and supply her wants; 

 no Argus appears to be more vigilant : it mounts 

 on her abdomen, resting its two posterior legs on 

 the ground : these sentinels are constantly relieved. 

 As soon as an egg is deposited, the female be- 

 comes the object of the tender care of the neuters, 

 and as a mother she receives those attentions 

 which she would in vain have solicited as a vir- 

 gin. A court, composed of from ten to fifteen in- 

 dividuals. Bays Huber, continually follows her; she 

 is unceasingly the object of their care and caress- 

 es ; all are eager to collect around her, oficr her 

 nourishment, and assist her with their mandibles 

 in making her way through difficult and ascend- 

 ing passages; they also lead her through all the 

 different quarters of the ant-hill. The eggs taken 

 up by the laborers at the instant of their being laid, 

 are collected around her. When she seeks repose, 

 a group of ants environ her; several females live 

 in the same nest, and show no rivalry ; each has 

 her court, they pass each other uninjured, and sus- 

 tain in common the population of the ant-hill ; but 

 they possess no power, which it would seem is 

 lodged exclusively with the neuters. 



"In whatever apartment," says Gould, "a 

 queen condescends to be present, she commands 

 obedience and respect ; a universal gladness 

 spreads itself throughout the whole cell, which is 

 expressed by particular acts of joy and exulta- 

 tion. They have a peculiar way of skipping and 

 leaping, and standing upon their hind legs, and 

 prancing with the others. These li-olics they make 

 use of, both to congratulate each other when they 

 meet, and to show their regard for their queen ; 

 some of them gently walk over her, others dance 

 around her, and she is generally encircled with a 

 cluster of attendants." 



Their affection is extended, it would appear 

 fi-om Huber, even beyond life; for when a pi'eg- 



VoL. IV — 42 



nant female dies, five or six laborers rest near her, 

 and for some days lick and brush lier constantly, 

 either with a liope to revive that little particle of 

 cherished dust, or as a tribute of their insliuctive 

 love for the departed. 



If we observe the ant-bill, we shall see so many 

 traits of this affection of the worker towards the 

 ftimale, as to satisfy us that the imprisonment and 

 mutilation she had undergone at the hands of the 

 former are dictated alone by that instinct wliich 

 prompts the ant to continue its kind. The repub- 

 lic of ants is not annually dissolved like tliut of 

 bees and wasps. 



Attachment to the female is not the only in- 

 stance of afiection evinced liy these insects ; ibey, 

 as well as bees, appear to recognize each other even 

 afler a long absence. Huber, liaving taken an 

 ant-hill from the woods, placed it in his glass hive ; 

 finding that he had a superabundance of ants, he 

 allowed some of them to escape, and these farmed 

 a nest in his garden. Those which were in the 

 hive he carried into his study, and observeil their 

 habits for four months, alter which period he placed 

 tb.e hive in the garden within fifteen paces of the 

 natural nest. Immediately, the ants established in 

 it recognized their former companions, with whom 

 they had held no connnunication for tour months ; 

 they caressed them with their antenn;e, and taking 

 them up in their mandibles, led them to their own 

 nest. Presently others arrived in crowds and car- 

 ried off the fugitives in a similar manner ; and 

 venturing into the artificial ant-hill, in a few days 

 caused such a desertion that it was wholly depop- 

 ulated. 



Tlie above anecdote seems to prove that ants 

 have a language of dumb signs of wliich the or- 

 gans are the antenna^. As yet the proofs of this 

 antennal language have been drawn from the af- 

 fections of these creatures, but more striking ones 

 are derived from their passions. For there are 

 lt?w animals in wliich the passions assume a more 

 deep and threatening aspect; they unite them in 

 myriads for the purposes of war and extermina- 

 tion. 



It would perhaps be too much to say, that the 

 warfare which takes place among ants calls forth 

 bright traits of character, and occasions the exer- 

 cise of virtues which under no other combination 

 of circumstances could be exhibited. Yet Latre- 

 ille, after he had cut off the antennir- of an ant, 

 saw another approach it as if compassionating the 

 loss of a member as dear to the owner as the pu- 

 pil of our eye to us, and afler caressing the sufler- 

 er, pour into the wound a drop of a liquid from its 

 own mouth. 



The causes which give rise to these wars are, 

 no doubt, as important to them as those which 

 urge human monarchs to devastate, and human 

 heroes to struggle for victory. The ants will dis- 

 pute furiously about a few square feet of dust; 

 and such an object is of equal magnitude and im- 

 portance to them, as a river, or a mountain, to an 

 emperor. Sometimes a straw, the carcass of a 

 worm, a single grain of wheat, will cause myriads 

 to engage in deadly strife, and leave the misera- 

 ble inches of surrounding earth thickly strewed 

 with the pigmy dead. Sometimes a nobler aim 

 will cause them to defentl to the uttermost their 

 homes and their young, from tlie marauding am- 

 bition of a neighboring hill. "Alas !" says Bacon, 

 "the earth, with men upon it, will not seem much 



