ANTS AND ANT LIFE. 155 



has it. They, however, generally succeed in their object, as 

 the pratenses are struck with fear by this attack from behind, 

 and give way. At such moments is shown the intelligence 

 of the sanguinece. They know how to seize the exact 

 moment at which the enemy shows signs of retreat, and 

 spread the intelligence from one to another with marvellous 

 rapidity. They unhesitatingly throw themselves amongst 

 the foe, slay right and left like the Amazons, and tear away 

 the pupae from their opponents. The pratenses are in such a 

 state of consternation that they would not offer the least 

 resistance if they were hundreds against one. Forel saw 

 some conquered pratenses which had fled in crowds with 

 their pupas beneath the broad leaves of a plantain. A single 

 sanguine ant pushed in among them, whereupon they all fled 

 leaving their pupae behind. No species of ant has such a 

 desire for alien pupae as has the sanguinea; to steal them 

 seems the one object of its life. While the pratensis, for 

 example, gets angry with its opponents and murders its 

 prisoners, the sanguinea scarcely ever does anything of the 

 kind. It conquers its enemies less by killing them than by 

 spreading terror in the hostile camp. Forel has often seen 

 the same warrior rob its enemies of pupa after pupa without 

 molesting them further, and without being able to carry 

 away all the stolen pupae. Does it intend merely to spread 

 fear, or to prevent the enemy from carrying away the pupas? 

 It is certain that it secures both ends. 



" In the genus Formica, which I regard as the most intel- 

 ligent of ant genera," says Forel (loc. cit., p. 443), " the 

 sanguinea without doubt carries off the palm. No other 

 species shows so much diversity in its habits and in its 

 ability to adapt itself to circumstances. It takes its slaves 

 from a number of other species, fights with wonderful 

 tactical skill, builds its nest in every imaginable way accord- 

 ing to the place at which it chances to find itself, invents 

 different kinds of attack for different enemies (L. niger, F. 

 pratensis, F. fusca) " and so on. 



As to the slave-hunts of the sanguinea they have already 

 been described by Huber in unsurpassable fashion. Since 

 then Charles Darwin has also taken the trouble to watch 

 the slave-habits of this species, whereon we had better let 

 the celebrated naturalist speak for himself : 



" I opened fourteen nests of F. sanguinea, and found a 



