SLAVE-MAKING ANTS. 63 



when they attack her ; all she asks is to be 

 let alone. 



It will be remembered that in the preced- 

 ing pages a slender brown ant was mention- 

 ed, which, when assailed by the slave-maker, 

 behaved very differently from all other spe- 

 cies ; coming out of the nest with pupae in 

 their mandibles, they mounted blades of 

 grass and stems of clover, where they re- 

 mained holding the young until the danger 

 was over. Some of these ants with the 

 pupae were captured. In a week or so af- 

 ter, I noticed a few were domiciled with the 

 slave-makers, and seemed to be contented 

 with their surroundings; but their habits 

 were so unlike the other species in the col- 

 ony that they were of no use whatever, and 

 proved to be a great trouble and annoyance 

 to their masters. 



One of their habits is to cover all the food 

 they cannot carry into the nest ; so, when 

 they found the honey, two or three of these 

 ants set to work to conceal the treasure. 

 They first brought small pebbles and large 

 grains of sand and placed them around the 

 outer edge, making a little wall ; then they 

 brought bits of sticks and leaves, and pieces 

 of green moss, and threw them over the 

 wall on to the honey. The masters, in mak- 



