30 INSECTS. 



other communities for the purpose of securing servants; but even many ants, 

 whose energies are confined to agriculture, not infrequently wage war for the sake 

 of plunder on others whose habits of life are similar. An expedition of the former 

 tribes usually consists of a general attack upon the nest of a species which they 

 are in the habit of enslaving. Single scouts are sent out to reconnoitre, whose 

 business it is to investigate the position of the nest and the whereabouts of the 

 entrances. Having satisfied themselves of the feasibility of an attack, they return 

 to their own nest, and summon forth the hosts of ferocious warriors. These 

 encouraging one another with taps of the antennae, march on the unhappy colony, 

 whose baby inhabitants they propose to enslave. Of all the warriors the most 

 warlike are the amazons (Formica rufescens), robber-ants of great size, strength, 

 and courage. A column is formed, and, guided by the scent of their prey, as they 

 come within the radius of their victims' pathways to and from their city, in 

 hundreds they rush onwards. An hour, it may be, after the start, the nest is 

 reached and entered, and soon the struggle becomes a furious battle, on the one 

 hand to save, on the other to carry off the larvae. Up the neighbouring trees the 

 owners fly with their precious burdens, a harbour of refuge, secure from danger, 

 for here the Amazons cannot follow — specialised to kill but not to climb. Others 

 hang on the flanks of the retreating columns and harass the thieves bearing off 

 the tender pupae. A nurse seizes one end of her nursling, the Amazon has the 

 other, imperceptibly the jaws of the latter steal up, still holding on, towards the 

 far end, till the nurse's head is pierced. Sometimes the Amazon lets go, and the 

 nurse is gone in a trice, and the pupa with her, while the warrior contents itself 

 with a vicious grin as the embryo slave vanishes into the tree-tops. The slaves 

 left behind in the city are ready to receive the plunder ; and soon more slaves are 

 hatched, whose prison is now their home, for they have never been conscious of 

 another. But success does not always smile upon their expeditions ; an entire army 

 may lose the way, courage may fail the leaders, disputes may arise, and general 

 unaccountable want of esprit de corps, breaks their resolution, and the attack is 

 abandoned. Many a warrior loses its way emerging from the ravaged nest by 

 passages which open to the thicket far from those they entered by. The sense of 

 smell is of no avail, that of direction does not rise to the occasion. 



Another robber-ant (Formica sanguinea), not so well furnished with offensive 

 weapons, but larger and more intelligent than the former, also sallies forth in 

 search of slaves. Both may meet in combat on the march, and the dead and 

 dying mangled remains, and heads and legs nipped off", bear witness to the 

 consequences. These robber-ants do not attack a nest with a rush, as do the 

 Amazons. They lay deliberate siege to it, surround it, securing the entrances and 

 exits. None of the inhabitants are allowed to pass if they carry pupae. 



Of the other inmates of ants' nests such as beetles, crickets, spiders, wood-lice, 

 and the like, want of space forbids mention, ancL indeed, the reason of their 

 presence is not obvious. The supposition that they are kept as pets possibly 

 derives support merely from the analogy drawn from similar whims amongst 

 human beings. That ants sleep is an undoubted fact, and so too that they bestow 

 much care upon their toilet, assisting each other in this respect. Bates writes 

 that "here and there an ant was seen stretching forth first one leg and then 



