HUNTING— FISHING — WARS AND EXPEDITIONS. 57 



the approach is announced of a band of slavers, and 

 they all rush out, some to face their terrible adversaries 

 while the others take up the nymphs and eggs in their 

 mandibles and flee in all directions to save as many as 

 possible of their offspring. The small ants endeavour 

 with their burdens to climb to the summits of blades 

 of grass ; those who succeed are in safety with the 

 eggs that they carry, for the Amazons do not climb. 

 In the meanwhile a fierce battle is going on in the 

 neighbourhood of the nest between ihe Formica fusca, 

 who have made a sortie, and the slavers. It is an 

 unequal struggle, because the I-atter are armed with 

 formidable jaws, strong and sharp, borne by a large 

 head with powerful muscles. The defenders of the 

 nest are seized and placed hors de combat. They flee 

 discouraged, and the assailants force the entry of the 

 dwelling. They then take possession of the larvae 

 and nymphs and come out again holding them in 

 their mandibles. The Polyergus thus laden flee as 

 fast as possible, escaping as well as they can from the 

 bereaved parents, who endeavour to save their off- 

 spring. The band returns to the nest by the same 

 road that it came, although not the shortest, for these 

 insects seem to lack the sense of direction and are 

 guided by smell, so that they have to retrace all the 

 windings of the road. The march is slackened by the 

 weight of the booty (Fig. 7), and each travels accord- 

 ing to his fancy, without following the regular order 

 of the departure. At last the ants regain their 

 household. The slaves, warned of the return of the 

 victorious army, rush out to meet it and relieve the 

 arrivals of their burdens, some in their zeal even 

 carrying at the same time both the master and his 

 burden. The nymphs transported into the ant-hill 



