180 



FORMICID.E.- 



-INSECTS.- 



-FORMICA SASGUINEA. 



larly by some of the Staphylinidis, which seem to be 

 ill some way useful to the community ; they probably 

 yield some secretion which serves as food to the young 

 brood. — See part Coleoptera, subject Brachcbjtra 

 furtlier on. 



FORMICA SAKGUINEA, to which we refer more 

 particularly further on, plunders the nests of other 

 species of ants of tlieir pupa;, which it rears ; wlien 

 perfect, they are the slaves of this ant. It constructs 

 its galleries in banks ; its large workers are a bold and 

 courageous race, attacking with great fury. It is not 

 a very common species. 



FORMICA FUSCA is a common species, found in 

 banks, particularly those with a warm southern aspect. 

 By removing the particles of earth, this species con- 

 structs in these banks large and intricate galleries and 

 passages. These nests often contain some of the rarest 

 little beetles, which are much prized by entomologists. 



FORMICA FULIGINOSA is of a jet-black colour. It 

 forms its chambers in decaying trees or old posts, which 

 they gnaw into numberless stories. The movements of 

 this species are extremely slow as compared with those 

 of any other species. Numbers of these ants frequently 

 congregate in masses near the nest, apparently sunning 

 themselves, and not, like other species, incessantly at 

 \vork. 



FORMICA NIGRA, commonly called tlie Garden Ant, 

 is a most abundant species in this country, being found 

 everywhere. It is abundant even in the gardens and 

 squares of London. It usually builds in banks, but 

 is also found in walls of gardens and outhouses. 



FORMICA FLAVA, so called from its yellow workers, is 

 a most abundant species everywhere. It raises its little 

 mounds in meadows and on heaths. These mounds 

 serve to carry off the rain from its dwelling. In hilly 

 districts it avails itself of the protection of a stone or 

 other substance, beneath the shelter of which it con- 

 structs its roads and nurseries. 



PONERA CONTRACTA is a rare ant in this country ; 

 only occasional specimens have been taken. 



The Myrmichia; are small ants, the pupae of which 

 are not inclosed in cocoons ; the petiole of the abdomen 

 has two nodes. One of the species, the Myrmica 

 scabrinodis, is frequently to be met with, occupying one 

 side of a little hillock, thrown up by Formica flava. 

 In some' parts of the country it abounds to such an 

 extent, that clouds consisting of myriads of the winged 

 males and females are seen flying in the air, frequently 

 taking the course of rivers, when thousands of specimens 

 may be seen floating in the stream. 



MYRMICA C5:SPITUM is a local species in this 

 country, but in many places on the coast it is found 

 abundantly. 



MYRMICA MOLESTA is a small ant, most abundant 

 in houses ; hence Mr. Shuckard named it M. domestica. 

 It sometimes becomes so numerous in houses as to 

 be a perfect nuisance, swarming over eatables of every 

 kind. This domestic ant seems to have been intro- 

 duced with merchandise. It is abundant in North 

 America, and we were told by the Rev. Hamlet Clark, 

 that at Rio Janeiro it is everywhere — indoors, out of 

 doors, and \\\)0\\ everything. 



The walls of the burrows of some of the European 



and American ani&{Formic<ifulir]inosa — F. Carya:) are 

 always of a black colour. This discoloration is not con- 

 fined to the surface of the burrow, but penetrates 

 through the wood surrounding it on all sides to the 

 depth of an inch or more ; probably the ant, by 

 saturating the wood with acid, hastens its decay, so 

 that it may be more easily mined. These burrows 

 are long narrow passages. 



Some ants are furnished with a remarkable instinct; 

 this instinct, that of slave-making, was first discovered 

 by one of the Hubers.* This indefatigable observer 

 first noticed the habit in the Formica rvfescens, 

 and has shown that the species is absolutely depen- 

 dent on its slaves. The males do not work, and 

 fertile females only keep up the race, and the only 

 work the sterile females engage in is that of capturing 

 slaves. They neither make their own nests, nor feed 

 their own larvae. Should the old nest prove incon- 

 venient, the slaves determine the migration to more 

 suitable quarters, and actually carry their masters in 

 their jaws ; these are so helpless, that when Iluber 

 shut up thirty of them without a slave, although 

 they had plenty of their favourite food and had their 

 larva; and pu])iE to stimulate them to work, they did 

 nothing — they could not feed themselves. Our 

 observer introduced a single slave of the species, 

 named Formica fusca by naturalists. This ant in- 

 stantly set to work, fed and saved the survivors, made 

 some cells, and attended to the larvae. 



The Formica sanguinea, which is found in the south 

 of England, is also a slave-maker. Mr. Darwin says, 

 " Although fully trusting to the statements of Huber 

 and Mr. Smith, I tried to approach the subject in a 

 sceptical frame of mind, as any one may well be 

 excused for doubting the truth of so extraordinary 

 and odious an instinct as that of making slaves. 

 Hence, I will give the observations wdiich I have 

 myself made, in some little detail. I opened fourteen 

 nests of F. sanguinea, and found a few slaves in all. 

 Males and fertile females of the slave-species {F. fusca) 

 are found only in their own proper communities, and 

 have never been observed in the nests of the F. scm- 

 guinea." He observes that the slaves are black, and 

 not above half the size of their red masters. If the 

 nest be slightly disturbed the slaves come out, and 

 like their masters, are much agitated, and defend the 

 nest. Should the larvae and pupae be exposed, the 

 slaves work energetically with their masters in remov- 

 ing them to a place of safety. The slaves feel quite 

 at home. During the months of June and July, in 

 three successive years, Mr. Darwin watched several 

 nests in Surrey and Sussex for many hours, and never 

 saw a slave either leave or enter a nest. The masters 

 bring in material for the nest and food of all kinds, 

 although, occasionally, slaves are observed assisting in 

 the latter operations. Iluber says that in Switzerland 

 the slaves habitually work with the masters in making 

 the nests, and they alone open and close the doors in 

 the morning and evening. Huber also noticed that their 

 principal office was to search for aphides or plant-lice. 



* The account here given is from chap. vii. of Mr. Dar- 

 win's work on the Origin of Species, as that author has 

 paid very couriiderahle attention to the subject. 



