﻿IXO HYMENOPTERA 



has been asserted that it is in our own islands (where, however, 

 it is comparatively rare) less of a slave-owner than it is in 

 Southern Europe, but this conclusion is very doubtful. It ap- 

 pears when fighting to be rather desirous of conquering its 

 opponents by inspiring terror and making them aware of its 

 superiority than by killing them ; having gained a victory it 

 will carry off the pupae from the nest it has conquered to its 

 own abode, and the ants of the stranger-species that develop from 

 these pupae serve the conquerors faithfully, and relieve them of 

 much of their domestic duties. The species that F. sanguinea 

 utilises in this way in England are F.fvsca, F. cunicularia, and 

 possibly Lasii/s flams. Huber and Eorel have given graphic 

 accounts of the expeditions of this soldier-ant. In the mixed 

 colonies of F. sanguinea and F.fvsca the slaves do most of the 

 house-work, and are more skilful at it than their masters. Adlerz 

 says that one of the slaves will accomplish twice as much work 

 of excavation in the same time as the slave-owner ; these latter 

 being lazy and fond of enjoyment, while the slaves are very 

 industrious. 



Polyergus rufescens, an European ant allied to Formica, is 

 renowned since the time of Huber (1810) as the slave-making 

 or Amazon ant. This creature is absolutely dependent on its 

 auxiliaries for its existence, and will starve, it is said, in the 

 midst of food unless its servitors are there to feed it. Wasmann, 

 however, states that Polyergus does possess the power of 



feeding itself to a certain extent. Be 

 this as it may, the qualities of this ant 

 as warrior are superb. When an indi- 

 vidual is fighting alone its audacity is 

 splendid, and it will yield to no superi- 

 ority of numbers ; when the creatures are 

 acting as part of an army the individual 

 boldness gives place to courage of a more 

 suitable sort, the ants then exhibiting the 



Fig. 61.— Head of Polyergus ac t of retreating or making flank move- 

 rufeseens. (After Andre. ) . T( , n , 



ments when necessary. It a Polyergus 

 that is acting as a member of a troop finds itself isolated, and 

 in danger of being overpowered, it has then no hesitation in 

 seeking safety even by flight. This species is provided with 

 mandibles of a peculiar nature ; they are not armed with teeth, 



