38 Ants. 



still a mystery. They fight in the same manner 

 as Polyergus ; but are no match for the Tetra- 

 moriums, a courageous species, and one which lives 

 in large communities. On one occasion Forel 

 brought a nest of Tetramorium and put it down 

 very near one of Strongylognatlms testaceus with 

 Tetramorium slaves. A battle at once commenced 

 between the two communities. The Strongylog- 

 nathus rushed boldly to the fight, but, though their 

 side won the day, this was mainly due to the slaves. 

 The StrongylognatJius themselves were almost all 

 killed ; and though the energy of their attack 

 seemed at first to disconcert their opponents, Forel 

 assures us that they did not succeed in killing 

 even a single Tetramorium. In fact, as he graphi- 

 cally observes, Strongyloguathus is " a melancholy 

 caricature " of Polyergus, and it seems almost 

 impossible that by themselves they could success- 

 fully attack a nest of Tetramorium. Moreover, in 

 StrongylognatJius, the workers are comparatively 

 few. Nevertheless, they are always found with the 

 Tetramoriums, and in these mixed nests there are 

 no males or females of Tetramorium, but only 

 those of StrongylognatJius. Again, the whole work 

 of the nest is done by the slaves, though Strongy- 

 lognatJius has not, like Polyergus, entirely lost the 

 power of feeding itself. 



10. But if the economy of StrongylognatJius is an 

 enigma, that of Anergates is still more mysterious. 



It seems quite clear that Anergates cannot procure 



