90 ANTS, THEIR GUESTS AND THEIR LODGERS 



kept in his proper place by kind intentions. There 

 are also in ants ' nests what Dr. Wasmann calls 

 " tolerated lodgers " ; these are mostly creatures 

 which are supposed to escape the notice of the 

 ants, either by their small size or by their slow, 

 lethargic, or on the other hand very rapid move- 

 ments these in many cases act as scavengers, 

 living on the dead bodies of insects, etc., brought 

 in by the ants. 



The hostile lodgers are real enemies to the 

 ants and devour their brood, and in consequence 

 they are always at war with each other. These 

 creatures generally resemble the ants consider- 

 ably in form and colour and especially in their 

 movements. 



Besides these lodgers there are numerous 

 parasites of the ants, such as mites, etc., so that 

 an ant colony is a very wonderful mixture of 

 diverse inhabitants. The distinctions given above 

 as to the habits of the various lodgers are not 

 always kept up, as, in some, two or more of these 

 habits are combined. The whole study of ants 

 and their guests is a most fascinating one : many 

 of the latter are great rarities and much sought 

 after by collectors. Unfortunately, the great 



