SLAVE-MAKING ANTS. 61 



around her. At last one of the warriors, 

 not as keen-sighted as his comrades, seizes 

 the poor slave with a death-grip ; two or 

 three others, attracted by the struggle, also 

 seize her, and soon tear her in pieces. This 

 is the only time I ever saw the soldiers kill 

 one of their own slaves. After the excite- 

 ment dies away, the soldiers treat their dead 

 companions as in the first instance, carry- 

 ing some away, and others which move are 

 taken within the nest. 



I now take a handful of small sticks, from 

 half an inch to an inch in length, and pour 

 them down, which nearly closes the main 

 entrance. This makes quite a commotion 

 for a few moments among the soldiers, but 

 nothing like the agitation caused by their 

 dead comrades. The slaves soon remove 

 the sticks, while their masters assume the 

 defensive, and bluster around, doing noth- 

 ing. 



But the most remarkable and amusing 

 feature in the behavior of these slave-mak- 

 ers is the solicitude with which they guard 

 the food that is placed around the nest 

 the more remarkable that they seldom touch 

 the food themselves. Wasps, honey-bees, 

 bumblebees, two -winged flies, are all at- 

 tracted to the honey aud sugar, but they 



