SLAVE-MAKING ANTS. 55 



when it no longer crumbles, she carries the 

 large piece. 



By the last of August there is a regular 

 division of labor among this mixed colony, 

 all brought about by the determined, perse- 

 vering will of the slave-maker. There are 

 now eleven openings to the nest, where the 

 miners are at work ; and this mining, as far 

 as I can see, is wholly carried on by the 

 blacks. They seem to be preparing for win- 

 ter, making excavations below the frost- 

 line, and are now bringing to the surface a 

 brick-red earth. This stratum of red earth 

 varies in depth in different localities from 

 eighteen inches to three feet below the sur- 

 face. Where this nest is situated it is just 

 three feet below the surface. 



The slave-owners are constantly moving 

 about, seeming to superintend everything 

 looking after the yellow nurses, and after 

 the browns and yellows that are bringing 

 in animal food. 



Quite a large number of various species 

 of ants are attracted from other nests to the 

 food which surrounds the home of the slave- 

 maker, and very cautiously they steal up to 

 the coveted honey and sugar; finding a va- 

 cant place on the leaf, they quietly slip in 

 to the feast. One of the masters is now 



