July 13, 1883.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



21 



AUSTRALIAN ANTS. 



(Continued from page 374, Vol. III.) 



THE treeants are very frequently met with. Of these 

 there would seem to be at least two species, the one 

 contenting themselves with nestling under the loose bark, 

 while the other bore into the trunk of the tree itself, by 

 reason of which habit they are designated carpenters. 

 They do not, however, use timber for building purposes : 

 they only excavate it to provide themselves with a dwelling- 

 place ; still, as the particles of wood lie scattered round 

 the root of the tree, looking like heaps of regular sawdust, 

 the designation seems by no means inappropriate. A 

 favourite resort of both these species is dead stumps, and, 

 singular to say, three sides only of the stump are appro- 

 priated. These are invariably east, north, and west. These 

 several sides, as every one will remember, are the only ones 

 well exposed to the sunshine, necessary in winter for the 

 comfort of the community, and in spring, summer, and 

 autumn for the hatching of the eggs and the development 

 of the pup;c. A sanitary expert could not have devised 

 his plans more satisfactorily. These ants are very fierce 

 when molested, attacking some of the larger kinds, and 

 often come off conquerors. 



The little "sugar ants" are well known to most dwellers 

 in towns, and even in central Melbourne sometimes prove 

 a nuisance to housewives, by invading any saccharine 

 matters that may be left uncovered. They owe their 

 popular name to their fondness for this article of food. If 

 a small heap of the same is placed in their way, they 

 seldom stop to eat it on the spot, but carry the prize away, 

 crystal by crystal, evidently for the benefit of the general 

 population. Fond as they are of sugar, they are still more 

 partial to honey, and will readily leave the former for the 

 latter. This is not carried away, but eaten wherever met 

 with. So attractive seems this ambrosia, that even the 

 queens are tempted out to partake of it. Before depositing 

 the honey I once or twice introduced some stranger ants, 

 who were immediately attacked. While the fight was 

 going on I placed the honey near the belligerents, who, 

 as it seems, having more taste for the pleasures of a 

 terrestrial Valhalla than the turmoil of the battle - field, 

 let go their antagonist to feast with their already nearly 

 gorged confreres. On one occasion two combatants fell 

 into the honey. The stranger, owing to superior strength 

 escaped and was followed by a little crowd of his enemies. 

 The object of the pursuers, however, did not seem to be the 

 further punishment of the interloper, but simply to despoil 

 him of the dainty which he was carrying away adhering to 

 his legs and body. If a working ant fell into the honey 

 he was left contemptuously alone to escape as best he could. 

 On two occasions, however, 1 noticed (lueens who had 

 similarly come to grief. These, strange to say, were 

 pulled out and cleaned by three or four of the adjacent 

 workers. With respect to queens, there seems to be 

 a good deal of gallantry displayed towards them, alto- 

 gether independently of nation or race. I ha^e never, 

 in fact, seen a strange que(>n molested when placed among 

 hundreds of a thoroughly hostile tribe. I once noticed 

 another remarkable fact with respect to the behaviour of 

 ants towards strangers. I had placed some ants fully a 

 <|uarter of an inch in length upon a board surrounded 

 with water. Soon afterwards I brought home a number of 

 tree ants, tog(>ther with some twenty or thirty (jueens and 

 several hundred pupie, placing my second find at the 

 opposite end of the .'ianii^ board. I fully looked forward 

 for a fight, and so there was, but not as was expected. The 

 tree ants at once began to seize and carry oil' the pup:e, 

 and in the direction of the stronghold of their gigantic 



fellow-prisoners. Queens, as before stated, were allowed 

 to pass unmolested, as also, in most instances, were un- 

 laden ants, but an ant bearing a pupa or egg in its mandi- 

 bles was at once assaulted and nipped by some assailant 

 The pupa was, of course, dropped, the despoiled bearer 

 thereof creeping away badly, sometimes fatally, wounded. 

 Singular to say, the dropped pupa was never appropriated 

 by the attacking party. His object seemed to be murder, 

 to which he was incited for some unknown reason, and not 

 robbery. 



Perhaps of all Australian ants the so-called bulldog is 

 the most noticeable. These do not seem to exist at pre- 

 sent in any great numbers near Melbourne, although 

 during a walk through the more unfrequented part of 

 woods and paddocks .some few are almost certain to be 

 met with in the summer months. Their mandibles are 

 very large, but do not appear to be of the shape espe- 

 cially adapted for wounding the human skin. Their 

 principal means of defence and attack in all probability 

 lies in their formidable sting, a wound from which, 

 although by no means dangerous, is often painful. Their 

 name is most likely derived from the singular habit they 

 have of always facing their enemy bull-dog fashion. It is 

 very rarely that you can make them take to flight. They 

 ratherchoose to maintain their ground, and assumeathreaten- 

 ing attitude. Held captive under a glass, I have frequently 

 seen them attack spiders many times their size, and armed 

 with formidable jaws. The spider, however, is a dan- 

 gerous adversary, his flight being often attended with mis- 

 hap to the pursuing party, since the fugitive has a habit of 

 playing a thoroughly Parthian trick during his retreat, not, 

 however, shooting an arrow, but darting out a series of 

 webs, which adhere to, and generally tlisable, the enemj-. 

 Bulldog ants would seem to have some idea of colour, and, 

 like the bo\ine monarch defending his seraglio, have an 

 especial antipathy to oVijects of a bright ruddy tint. In 

 confinement, at any rate, I have seen them fairly rash at a 

 piece of scarlet silk, seizing it with apparent fury, and 

 holding thereto for several seconds. Although not very 

 numerous near town, they seem to be holding their own in 

 some remote parts of the colony. According to Mr. 

 Selwyn's geological reports, issued some fifteen years since, 

 a party of his surveyors were literally driven out of a dis- 

 trict near Cape Howe by swarms of these pugnacious little 

 animals. 



A remarkable kind of ant is sometimes met with near 

 town. It is of a metallic sap-green colour, usually of about 

 five-eighths of an inch in length, rather lively in its uiotion.=, 

 but not, by all accounts, given to either bite or sting. Its 

 defence is the singular attitude which it takes up when an 

 alarm is given or an enemy approaches. It suddenly ele- 

 vates the abdomen so that this stands nearly perpen- 

 dicular. In this position it may really appear very 

 formidable to some would-be assailants, although man is 

 not likely to be greatly intimidated thereby. This par- 

 ticular ant seems to be especially addicted to solitary 

 habits, and it is on very rare occasions that as many as 

 two are seen together. It would also seem to be of the 

 female sex, which, in this instance, is not formed accord- 

 ing to the general rule. On the other hand, the males 

 are capable of flight, are of much smaller size, and very 

 sluggish in their movements. At the proper season a 

 female is often seen followed by some five or six of lier 

 male admirers, who, with their slow motion and the rather 

 peculiar arrangement of their wings, remind one of a group 

 of languid swells clad in ulsters, and with well-bred 

 lounge dogging the footsteps of some reigning belle as the 

 latter coquettishly " does the block " on a tine afternoon. — 

 .1 ustrahiiian. 



