340 INSECTS AT HOME. 



Sometimes two entirely di.stiiict species of Ant mnybe found 

 to occupy different sides of the .same hillock, and I have found 

 the Black Ant and the Yellow Ant under the bark of a little 

 fir-stump about seven inches in diameter. Until I touk off 

 the bark I was not aware of their existence ; and it was a very 

 cm-ious sight to see two distinct colonies in such close proximity, 

 yet neither interfering with the other. Mr. F. Smith mentions 

 that he has found a nest of another ant, Myrmica Iwvinodis, 

 within a hill made by the Wood-Ant. Jfyrmica nltldula has 

 been taken in the same locality. 



The Red A^t [Formica sanguinea) is worthy of some notice, 

 because it is one of the slave-making species. It invades the 

 nests of other Ants and carries off the pupae, and transfers them 

 to its own nest. The captors take as much care of tliem as of 

 their own pupa ; and, when they assume the perfect form, make 

 slaves of them. Mr. Smith mentions no less than four species 

 of Ants which are thus imprisoned and enslaved by the Red Ant. 

 The large workers resemble the females in colour, and vary in 

 length from the third to the fourth of an inch. They are 

 fierce and courageous, and by them tlie nests of other Ants are 

 stormed and the pupse carried off as spoils of war. Tlie small 

 worker is rather duller in luie, the cruwn of the head, the 

 middle of the thorax, and the legs being rather dun than red. 



The colour of the female is blood-red, slightly toned down 

 with a very fine ashen dun. The abdomen is reddish-black, 

 and so are the top of the head and the face. The wings re- 

 semble those of the Wood Ant. The male resembles that of 

 the Wood Ant, but is redder. This Ant is not very generally 

 distributed throughout England, but is plentiful in some 

 places, such as the New Forest. 



There is a very singidar family of Ants, called Mut'dUdce, or 

 Solitary Ants, very few of which are known to inhabit Eng- 

 land. This is rather curious, because they are very plentiful 

 in most quarters of the globe, and seem equally at home in the 

 hottest and coldest climates. More than three hundred species 

 of the Solitary Ant are in the British Museum, and this num- 

 ber will probably be increased as soon as practical entomologists 

 get to work in various parts of the world which have hithertc 



