ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



325 



lul nil coinieclcd by uii(lorj;:roiiiul passages or 

 Linitcls. Some ol'lliesc rooms are williiii two feet 

 f the sill lace, wliilst others arc twenty feet bc- 

 eath. The nest proper we have just dug out 

 ovcrod a space fifty feet square, or '2,f)00 square 

 Bct, and descended beneatli the surface more 

 han (il'lcen feet, and (ho carlli was comiiletoly 

 loncyiiiiiiboil. As tlie carlh separating the dif- 

 cren( rooms was frecnicntly not more IJian an 

 iich and a Iialf thick, tliore were (liousands of 

 hese rooms, and it woiiUl bo impossible to csti- 

 iiatc Iho niMnber of ants present, some old and 

 ome just hatched (being as while as snow), 

 >thcrs very small but able to iiavigale without 

 ,ssis(aiicc. We also found many million eggs. 

 Ako the spider, Ihoy seem to have groat alfec- 

 ion lor Ihoir yoiuig and eggs, and oven when 

 heir n<'st Is deslroycd and sure death awaits 

 lieni all (For they, like the bee, are evidently 

 loomed wlieii the female is lost) they will pick 

 ip their helpless young and carry them off, and 

 vill ilie rather than release their burden. Their 

 icst i)roi)er seldom o(xui)ies a space exceeding 

 ifty or a hundred feet s(|iiare, but radiating in 

 ivery direction are uiidergroniid jiassages ex- 

 «nding sometimes a ((uartor of a mile from hoad- 

 ]uar(crs, and often p;issing under wagou-roads. 

 riiese are their roads by which or through which 

 ;hcy convey the material in which are (h^posited 

 ;hc eggs. This material usually consists of the 

 eaves of trees, shrubs and some veget ables. The 

 ('oung leaves of thc^ elm, china and jjoach trees, 

 :)f the rose bush, pea, carrot, strawberry, etc., 

 iw favorite subji^cts of their altenlion, and the 

 iHimber of trees they will entirely denude in the 

 course of a single night (for they only work at 

 night and on cloudy days) is surprising. These 

 leaves are conveye<l through tln'se undiu-ground 

 passages to their home and de\)Osited in one of 

 their (ihambors, and, I inesumo, thoy excrete 

 some substance that thoy i)ut with lh<i leaves, 

 for if a handful of the leaves is taken in the hand 

 and sqiKMv.ed, a ball is made very much resem- 

 bling coarse beeswax, and when dried is as hard 

 as dry putty. I judg(! the leaves by their decay 

 produce a gentle heat, or, at least, maintain a nni- 

 (brni temperature whereby I he ("^i:>i are hatched. 

 Formerly it was snjjposed thai these leav(w con- 

 stilMl<'d a slon'of food, but such is not the case. 

 Whether they feed nijon vegetabU^ or animal food 

 I cannot say. 1 have known them to carry olla 

 barrel of wheat in a fi-w nights, and I have 

 scon them destroy and carry off caterjiillars and 

 other small worms; and if a snake be killed and 

 thrown on the ground near their nest, they will 

 in a very short time strip every i)article of flesh 

 from the bones, leaving a mere skeleton. 



To the stranger the sight of these little marau- 

 ders when at work is an inlorestiugonc, forming 

 as th(!y do a long procession of many thousands, 

 (dosely Ibllowing one another in the same path, 

 each with a leaf or portion of a leaf, much larger 

 than himself, elevated over the body, and resem- 

 bling an umbrella. 



TUmv bite and sting (Ibr they liavi^ a minute 

 sting) is very sever(\ in a tender pari of the 

 human body; luinh nunc s.i than the sling of a 

 bee, and as they rush In Ihe attack when dis- 

 turbed, one must provide himself with boots and 

 tuck his jiants into the toiis when h(^ piwiceds to 

 dig out a nest. 



IJkn.i. II. ToWNSKND. 

 Austin, Texas. 



[The ant referred to, whii'h our corrosi)ondent 

 sent, is the Culling Ant of Texas {Alta fereiis, ^ 

 .Say*). We priiseut above ligures of the queen 

 (Fig. 20->) and of the worker (Fig. 20;i), bor- 

 ri)wed from the Ameriran Nalurnlid. Accord- 

 ing to Mr, Edward Norton, the females of all 

 ants remain in tiieir nests, except at pairhig 

 time, when they a])pear for a short time in great 

 nuinbers, males and females, and Iheii scatter 

 for till! i)urpose of founding new colonics. To 

 prevent Iheir departure, the workers cut olf the 

 wings of many females, which then die or re- 

 turn to the nest. 



Dr. Sumichrast stales that this ant swarms at 

 the comnufncement of the rainy .season (May), 

 and probably in Ihe night, for one finds Ihe ueigli- 

 borhi)0<l of the formicary strewn wilii llie de.ad 

 bodies of the males and females in the morning. 

 Our corresi)ondenl may be right in stating 

 that, as with the bees, sure death awaits the nest 

 of ants if the female is lost, for few females are 

 found during the greater part of the year; but 

 there must be at the pairing or swarming season 

 above referred lo, a great many females which 

 then lay fheir eggs and die— the workers taking 

 chargi^ of these eggs. 



We hope Mr. Townseiid will make further 

 observations on this subject, and we shall be glad 

 to reci^ive more jierfei-l specimens, as those ac- 

 com])anying the communication were all broken. 

 -En.] 



•Tliis isllu'ftVo</oma .l/<M'<ni/«i.f SiiiiMi (r.ril. Mirrf-tut , 

 VI, 18.'), ami Ni>ltmi, Am \u(., 11, \< i;'. Myimira 7iu- 

 au!t, biic.klc-y , I'rii.i. Awiil SM .M;i I'liil., l-^i'l, V-'»- '■>■ 

 (K:iidoma Texana, lillckliy, I'vna. Kiir . .■Siiu I'hil., \, |j. 



:!17 



• • • 



L.M'.OR on. good entomologists! and find out 

 the secirets of these and similar little (Micmies of 

 mankind, and wi; will heartily aid your cause 

 1)\- disseminating the kiiowliHlgc you acquire as 

 widely as we may, lor we deem the subject of 

 insect" pests to be the most imporlant question 

 now before the iigricultural community of this 

 country. — Scientijic American, 



