PERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 381 



their nature ; I shall therefore endeavor to relieve your mind by introduc- 

 ing you to a more quiet scene, and exhibit them to you during their inter- 

 vals of repose and relaxation. 



Gould tells us that the hill-ant is very fond of basking in the sun, and 

 that on a fine serene morning you may sec them conglomerated like bees 

 on the surface of their nest, from whence, on the least disturbance, they 

 will disappear in an instant.^ M. Huber also observes, after their labors 

 are finished, that they stretch themselves in the sun, where they lie heaped 

 one upon another, and seem to enjoy a short interval of repose ; and in 

 the interior of an artificial nest, in which he had confined some of this 

 species, where he saw many employed in various ways, he noticed some 

 reposing which appeared to be asleep.^ 



But they have not only their time for repose ; they also devote some 

 to relaxation, during which they amuse themselves with sports and games. 

 "You may frequently perceive one of these ants (P. rufct) (says our 

 Gould) run to and fro with a fellow-laborer in his forceps, of the same 

 species and colony. It appeared first in the light of provisions ; but I 

 was soon undeceived by observing that after being carried for some time it 

 was let go in a friendly manner, arid received no personal injury. This 

 amusement, or whatever title you please to give it, is often repeated, 

 particularly amongst the hill-ants, who are very fond of this sportive exer- 

 cise."^ A nest of ants which Bonnet found in the head of a teazle, when 

 enjoying the full sun, which seems the acme of formic felicity, amused 

 themselves with carrying each other on their backs, the rider holding with 

 his mandibles the neck of his horse, and embracing it closely with his 

 legs.'* But the most circumstantial account of their sports is given by 

 Huber. "I approached one day," says he, "one of their formicaries (he 

 is speaking of jF. riifa) exposed to the sun and sheltered from the north. 

 The ants were heaped together in great numbers, and seemed to enjoy the 

 temperature which they experienced at the surface of the nest. None of 

 them were working : this multitude of accumulated insects exhibited the 

 appearance of a boiling fluid, upon which at first the eye could scarce fix 

 itself without difficulty. But when I set myself to follow each ant 

 separately, I saw them approach each other, moving their antennae with 

 astonishing rapidity ; with their fore-feet they patted lightly the cheeks of 

 other ants : after these first gestures, which resembled caresses, they reared 

 upon their hind-legs by pairs ; they wrestled together ; they seized one 

 another by a mandible, by a leg or an antenna ; they then let go their 

 hold to renew the attack ; they fixed themselves to each other's trunk or 

 abdomen ; they embraced ; they turned each other over, or lifted each 

 other up by turns — they soon quitted the ants they had seized, and 

 endeavored to catch others. I have seen some who engaged in these 

 exercises with such eagerness, as to pursue successively several workers ; 

 and the combat did not terminate till the least animated, having thrown 

 his antagonist, accomplished his escape by concealing himself in some 

 gallery."^ He compares these sports to the gambols of two puppies, and 

 tells us that he not only often observed them in this nest, but also in his 

 artificial one. 



I shall here copy for you a memorandum I formerly made. " On the 



I Gould, 69. ' Huber, 73. ^ Gould, 103—. « Bonnet, ii. 407. * Huber, 170—. 



