CHAPTER II 



HARVESTING ANTS 



General habits — Appearance of ant — Sexual forms — Collection of seeds — 

 Effect of heat, cold, shade, rain, darkness — Cessation of toil — 

 Division of labour. 



I WILL commence my record of the natural history of 

 this valley with an account of the habits and instincts 

 of that common and conspicuous ant, Messor barbariis. 

 In all places, at moderate elevations, this harvester 

 pursues its labour. On the dusty roads, in the shady 

 gardens, on the bare hillsides, and amidst the fields of 

 Indian corn, long trains of ants, some empty, others 

 laden with the spoil of harvest, move in an unceasing 

 flow. At one spot a colony of ants establishes a 

 formicary ; tunnels are dug into the earth and subter- 

 ranean granaries are excavated in which to store the 

 harvest. From the entrance to the formicary a solid 

 track, smooth and well defined, leads out to where the 

 harvest is collected. Should the nest be a populous 

 one, a number of similar roads may radiate in dif- 

 ferent directions. These roads vary in length ; the 

 longest I have seen in these hills measured thirty 

 yards. Following the road outwards, we find that its 

 further extremity gradually fades away, expanding 

 into the collecting area where the seeds of the grass 

 or Indian corn are waitinof to be o-athered in. To and 



fro along the road the ants move in different direc- 



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