183G.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



331 



I never saw any quitting it wounded or maimed : 

 thus tliere is reason to believe tiiat, industrious as 

 they are, the ant has its Iiours of repose, and its 

 season lor cnioyniTit ; its serious duties, and its 

 pleasurable (rainbols." 



Connected with the subject of the wardire o( 

 ants is the history of a species o(" this insect, not 

 existing in these islands, called, by liuber, the 

 Amazon, or Legionary Ant, Formica riifescens ol 

 Latreille. It is both warlike and powerful, and, 

 unlike the rest of the tribe, its habits are tar from 

 being industrious. Enough has been said to show 

 that the proceedings of some insects so nearly 

 resemble human actions, as to excile our greatest 

 wonder : but the habits of the legionary are still 

 more surprising than the proceedings of the chiefs 

 which we have just bescribed ; it is actually found 

 to be a slave-dealer, attacking the nests of other 

 species, stealing their young, rearing them, and 

 thus, by shifting all the domestic duties of their re- 

 public on strangers,escapingfrom labor themselves. 

 This curious f;^ct, first discovered by Huber, has 

 been confirmed by Latreille, and is atlmitted by all 

 naturalists. The slave is distinguished from its 

 master by being of a dark ashcolor, so as to be 

 entitled to the name of Negro — an epithet now 

 appropriated to the Formica fasca, or ash-colored 

 ants. Their masters are light in color. The ne- 

 gro, is an industrious, peaceable, stingless insect; 

 the legionary, a courageous, armed, and lazy one. 

 The relation between them is not, however, that 

 which subsists between a task-master and his 

 bondsman, but a strong attachment is mutually 

 felt — another instance of the modification of in- 

 stinct, education obliterating in the ash-colored ant 

 all is natural antipathy to another species. All 

 that we know concerning these extraordinary 

 creatures being derived from Air. P. Huber, the 

 following is a short summary of his account. 



While walking near Geneva, between four and 

 five in the evening of the 17th of June, 1804, this 

 distinguished naturalist observed an army of the 

 rufescent or legionary ants traversing the road. 

 The colunm occupied a space of ten inches in 

 length, by four in breadth ; they rapidly quitted 

 the road, passed a 'hick hedge, entered a pasture- 

 ground, wound through the grass without break- 

 ing the line of march, and approached a nest in- 

 habited by the negro or ash-colored ant. Some 

 of its inhabitants were guarding the entrance, but 

 on the discovery of an approaching army, they 

 daned forth on the advancing party. The alarm 

 was communicated to the interior, whence their 

 companions rushed in numbers to join in the de- 

 fence of their underground residence. The bulk 

 of the army of the legionaries being about two 

 paces ofl", now quickened their march, and in an 

 instant the whole battalion fell upon and over- 

 threw the negroes, who, after a short and obsti- 

 nate conflict, retired and took refuge in the lowest 

 parts of the nest. The legionaries now mounted 

 the hillock ; some took possession of the principal 

 avenues, while others effected a new breach with 

 their teeth, so as to admit the remainder of the 

 army. Having thus taken the city by assault, 

 they remained in it only a i'^w minutes: return- 

 ing by the apertures through which they had en- 

 tered, each carried in its mouth either a larva or a 

 pupa, and scampered away without order or regu- 

 larity. M. Huber followed them for some time, 

 but lost sight of them in a cornfield. Wishing to 



observe the assaulted city again, he retraced his 

 steps, and saw a small number of ash-colured la- 

 borers perched on the stalks of plants, holding in 

 their mouths the few Iarva> wliich they had suc- 

 ceeded in rescuing from pillage. 



The next morning, Huber, taking the same 

 road, with the hope of once more seeing a simi- 

 lar scene, discovered a large ant-hill tenanted by 

 legionaries. At five in the evening, provided the 

 weather be fine, and the temperature 67° Faren- 

 hcit in the shade, these sally out. During the 

 oiher part of the day they appear to do little ; but 

 at this hour they become restless, assemble on the 

 outside of the city, move round it in circles: a 

 signal is then given, which they pass from one to 

 the other, striking, as they proceed, with their an- 

 tennae and forehead, the breasts of their compan- 

 ions ; these in their turn, approach those advan- 

 cing, and communicate the same signal — it is that 

 of departure — as the result satisfactorily proves. 

 Those which receive the intimation are instantly 

 seen to put themselves on the march ; the column 

 becomes organized ; and not a single amazon re- 

 mains near the garrison. There is no commander- 

 in-chiefj every ant is in turn first, each seeking to 

 be foremost. A small number may, however, be 

 observed constantly returning to the rear: this is 

 probably the means by which the whole army is 

 governed. 



With such dispositions, manoeuvres, and disci- 

 pline, Huber saw an army of legionaries set out 

 for a negro city. With their usual impetuosity of 

 attack, one party soon entered, and returned laden 

 with the young of the assailed ant-hill ; a second 

 detachment, not meeting with equal success, sepa- 

 rated from their companions, and fell on another 

 negro colony, where they met with ample booty ; 

 aller which the whole number of legionaries 

 marched to their nest in two divisions. As they 

 approached, Huber, saw, to his astonishment, a 

 great number of the very same species which had 

 been pillaged, all around the nest of the legiona- 

 ries. Was tliis a diversion made by carrying the 

 war into the enemy's territory? No: the return 

 of the legionaries excited no alarm ; on the con- 

 trary, the negro ants were seen to approach these 

 warriors, caress them with their antennee, ofler 

 them nourishment, as is the custom among their 

 own species, while the legionaries consigned their 

 prisoners to them to be carried to the interior of 

 the nest. 



In this way the same negro colony was observed 

 to be attacked three several times, and each time 

 with complete success ; the last attack, however, 

 was made under different circumstances from the 

 first two : the negroes, as if conscious of their ex- 

 posed situation, had lost no time in throwing up 

 trenches, barricading- the several entrances, and re- 

 inforcing the guard of the interior; "they had 

 moreover, brought too-ether all the little pieces of 

 wood and earth within their reach ; with these 

 they had blocked up the passage to their habita- 

 tion, in which they had posted themselves in full 

 force." 



"The legionaries at first hesitating to approach, 

 rambled about or returned to the rear ; they then 

 on a given signal rushed forward en masse, with 

 great impetuosity, removing with their teeth and 

 feet the many obstacles which impeded their pro- 

 gress : having succeeded, they entered the ant-hill 

 by hundreds, notwithstanding the resistence of it8 



