82 ANTS AND ANT LIFE. 



the wood ants (F. fnliginosa), in lack of wood, made a heap 

 of horse-chestnut leaves into a wood-like construction in a 

 beehive, with stories, rooms, and passages of communication. 

 Indeed this species can not only hollow out wood, but can 

 build walls, rooms, etc., out of sawdust, with the help of a 

 glandular secretion. It is easily recognised by its shining 

 black color, large head curved behind, and red-yellow feet. 

 As Blanchard says, its buildings defy description. 



The species which build their nests in rocks and walls 

 have the most conveniences, since they can turn natural 

 clefts and crannies to account, and without much trouble 

 finish them with earth and sand. The making of passages 

 between the several parts of the nest demands the greatest 

 labor. J. T. Moggridge (" Harvesting Ants and Trapdoor 

 Spiders," London, 1873-4, pp. 43, 44,) relates an ingenious 

 observation very illustrative of the way in which ants arrange 

 their buildings according to circumstances, and of their 

 highly-developed intelligence and quickness : " The second 

 captive colony, taken on December 28th, with the wingless 

 green ant and quantities of larva?, formed a strong Contrast 

 with the previous one. Here the ants at once set to work 

 upon the construction of galleries and safety places for the 

 larva? below the even surface of garden mould on which I 



had placed them within the jar This was done at 



3.30 p.m., and by 9 that evening I found the aut.s most 

 busily at work, having in less than six hours excavated eight 

 deep orifices leading to galleries below, and surrounded these 

 orifices by crater-like heaps, made of the earth pellets which 



they had thrown out On the following morning 



the openings were ten in number, and the greatly increased 

 heaps of excavated earth showed that they must pro- 

 bably have been at work all night. The amount of work 

 done in this short time was truly surprising, for it must be 

 remembered that, eighteen hours before, the earth presented 

 a perfectly level surface, and the larva? and ants, now 

 housed below, found themselves prisoners in a strange place, 

 bounded by glass and walls, and with no exit possible. It 

 seems to me that the ants displayed extraordinary intelli- 

 gence in having thus at a moment's notice devised a plan 

 by which the superabundant number of workers could be 

 employed at one time without coining in one another's way. 

 The soil contained in the jar was of course less than a tenth 



