44 ANTS AND ANT LIFE. 



Lasius, Tetramorium, Tapinoma, etc. Even winged insects 

 are not safe from them ; 1 have often seen butterflies, gnats, 

 flies, and others which had entangled themselves in the turf, 

 caught and killed by the ants." 



Even comparatively large animals are not secure from 

 their clutches, and are afraid of them. Moggridge, in his 

 interesting work (London, 1873 74) on the " Harvesting 

 Ants and Trap-door Spiders," of the borders of the Medi- 

 terranean, relates that the lizards are very fond of the 

 winged males and females of the ants and follow their 

 swarms, and that these are most gallantly shielded and 

 defended by the working ants : " When, as often happens, 

 the nest is placed in an old terrace-wall, one may see the 

 lizards creeping along or lying moulded into the inequalities 

 of the stones, all having their eager eyes directed towards 

 the swarm. One may then see the worker ants walk with 

 impunity straight up to the very noses of the lizards, while 

 the male or female which should chance to struggle in the 

 same direction would infallibly be eaten up. The lizards 

 plainly show their fear of the workers by the way in which, 

 when they make up their mind to try a dash at some out- 

 lying part of the ant- colony, they leap through the lines in 

 the utmost haste, as if traversing a ring of fire. Now these 

 worker ants are destitute of stings, and I can only suppose 

 that their power of combination, stronger jaws and more 

 horny coats, have gained them this immunity " (Supple- 

 ment, p. 162). 



What dangerous and dreaded creatures ants are in tropical 

 countries will be shown later on. 



Further, all these bodily and mental qualities vary as 

 much or more in different races, species and individuals, as 

 in different races and individuals amongst men. As Forel 

 says, there is a greater difference between a Plagiolepsis 

 pygmcsa and a Camponotus ligniperdus, than between a 

 mouse and a tiger ; and a colony of Lasius fulginosus com- 

 pared with one of Leptothorax tuberum, is as Paris 

 compared to a town or village. Strength, swiftness, the 

 power of defence and attack, the number of the population 

 of a colony, timidity, the time and frequency of swarming, 

 smell, love of war, architectural skill, and choice of locali- 

 ties, the art of feeding the young, the habit of day or night 

 work, and many other matters, vary, as Moggridge points 



