CHARACTER-INDUST 2 7 



fnuch from one another. F. fusca (PI. I. fig. 3), the 

 one which is pre-eminently the * slave ' ant, is, as 

 might be expected, extremely timid ; while the nearly 

 allied F. cmerea has, on the contrary, a considerable 

 amount of individual audacity. F. rufa (PI. II. fig. 5), 

 the horse ant, is, according to M. Forel, especially 

 characterised by the want of individual initiative, 

 and always moves in troops ; he also regards the 

 genus Formica as the most brilliant ; though others 

 excel it in other respects, as, for instance, in the 

 sharpness of their senses. F. pratensis worries its 

 slain enemies ; F. sanguinea (PI. I. fig. 6) never 

 does so. The slave-making ant (P. rufescens, PI. I. 

 fig. 5) is, perhaps, the bravest of all. If a single indi- 

 vidual finds herself surrounded by enemies, she never 

 attempts to fly, as any other ant would, but transfixes 

 her opponents one after another, springing right and 

 left with great agility, till at length she succumbs, 

 overpowered by numbers. M. scabrinodia is cowardly 

 and thievish; during wars among the larger species 

 they haunt the battle-fields and devour the dead. 

 Tetramorium is said to be very greedy ; Myrmedna 

 very phlegmatic. 



In industry ants are not surpassed even by bees 

 nnd wasps. They work all day, and in warm weather, 

 if need be, even at night too. I once watched an ant 

 from six in the morning, and she worked without 

 intermission till a quarter to ten at night. I had put 

 her to a saucer containing larvae, and in this time she 



