LEAF-CUTTING- ANTS. 95 



about, the anta are in great concern to carry every morsel of it 

 under shelter again ; and sometimes, when I had dug into a nest, 

 I found the next day all the earth thrown out filled with little 

 pits, that the ants had dug into it to get out the covered-up 

 food. When they migrate from one part to another, they 

 also carry with them all the ant-food from their old habita- 

 tions. 



In Biichner's ' Greistesleben der Thiere ' there is pub- 

 lished an interesting description of the habits of these ants, 

 which was communicated to the author by Dr. Fr. EUen- 

 dorf of Wiedenbriick, who has lived many years in Central 

 America. Dr. EUendorf says that — 



It would be quite impossible for them to creep even through 

 short grass with loads on their heads for miles. They therefore 

 bite off the grass close to the ground for a breadth of about five 

 inches, and throw it on one side. Thus a road is constructed, 

 which is finally made quite smooth and even by the continual 

 passing to and fro of millions upon millions night and day. . . 

 If the road is looked down upon from a height with these 

 millions thickly pressed together, and all moving along with 

 their green bannerets over their heads, it looks as though a 

 giant green snake were gliding slowly along the ground ; and 

 this picture is all the more striking in that all these bannerets 

 are swaying backwards and forwards.^ 



This observer made the experiment of interrupting the 

 advance of a column of these ants, with the interesting 

 result which be describes : — 



I wished to see how they would manage if I put an obstacle 

 in their way. Thick high grass stood on either side of their 

 narrow road, so that they could not pass through it with the 

 load on their heads. I placed a dry branch, nearly a foot in 

 diameter, obliquely across their path, and pressed it down so 

 tightly on the ground that they could not creep underneath. 

 The first comers crawled beneath the branch as far as they 

 could, and then tried to climb over, but failed owing to the 

 weight on their heads. Meanwhile the unloaded ants from 

 the other side came on, and when these succeeded in climbing 

 over the bough there was such a crush that the unladen ants 

 had to clamber over the laden, and the result was a terrible 

 muddle. I now walked along the train, and found that all the 

 ants with their bannerets on their heads were standing still, 



^ Loo. cit. p. 97. 



