2O Ants. 



powered by numbers. Myrmica scabrinodis is 

 cowardly and thievish ; during wars among the 

 larger species they haunt the battle-fields and 

 devour the dead. Tetramorium is said to be very 

 greedy ; Myrmecina very phlegmatic. 



6. In industry ants are not surpassed even by 

 bees and wasps. They work all day, and in warm 

 weather, if need be, even at night too. I once 

 watched an ant from six in the morning till a 

 quarter to ten at night, and she worked without 

 intermission the whole time. I had put her to a 

 saucer containing larvae, and in this time she 

 carried off no less than 187 to the nest. I kept 

 another ant which I employed in my experiments, 

 under observation several days. When I had to 

 leave the house, and again when I went to bed at 

 night, I kept her shut up in a small bottle, but the 

 moment I let her out she began to work again. 

 On one occasion I was away from home for a week. 

 On my return I took her out of the bottle, placing 

 her on a little heap of larv;e about three feet from 

 the nest. Under these circumstances I certainly 

 did not expect her to return. However, though 

 she had thus been six days in confinement, the 

 brave little creature immediately picked up a larva, 

 carried it off to the nest, and after half an hour's 

 rest returned for another. 



7. Our countryman Gould noticed certain 

 "amusements" or "sportive exercises" which he 

 had observed among ants. Huber also mentions 



