SLAVE-MAKING ANTS. 51 



I release her and place her at the entrance 

 of the nest, and she disappears within. 

 Why the ants did not make an effort to re- 

 gain their home seems strange ; for the leaf 

 was within three inches of the entrance, 

 and most of the ants were not overpowered 

 until they reached a point much farther 

 away than the entrance of their home. 



Not one of the red warriors will venture 

 within the nest, although no ants are visi- 

 ble; yet they move around it excitedly, just 

 as they did around the leaf. I take a gar- 

 den trowel and cut away two or three inch-- 

 es of the soil ; this does not damage the 

 large cavity, and for a moment almost a 

 solid mass of black heads rush to the front. 

 This, then, is the secret of the timidity of 

 the red soldiers. I push three into the lit- 

 tle cavity I have just formed; again the 

 black heads make their appearance, and 

 seize two of the soldiers and literally chew 

 them up, and again retreat out of sight. 

 The soldiers by this time seem dishearten- 

 ed, and the number is greatly decreasing ; 

 soon they have all disappeared. 



As this large ant seems to be an unde- 

 scribed species, I was very anxious to reach 

 the nest in order to be able to give reliable 

 information to the entomologist, who will 



