50 



to others of the genus, and especially to the English Sal mo fario, or common trout ; and 

 the Canadian Salmo fontinalis, the brook trout ; and Salmo naymacush, the Lunge. The 

 lake shad {Coregorius alb us), also is well known to have a keen relish for the Phryganidie 

 in their winged state. 



CONCERNING ANTS. 



BY G. J. BOWLES, MONTREAL. 



Although everyone has seen ants, and thinks he knows something about them, there 

 are not many who are well acquainted with their real history. The general knowledge 

 of them and their habits is limited to a few facts ; such as that they live in societies, 

 seem always to be at work, and sometimes get into our dwellings, where they are regarded 

 as a nuisance, and treated accordingly. To those, however, who have closely observed 

 them, they have become objects of great interest. The studies, begun by Gould, De Geer, 

 Latreille, P. Huber and others, have since been carried on by many naturalists ; parti- 

 cularly, in our own day, by Sir John Lubbock in England, and the Rev. Dr. McCook in 

 America, until a large amount of information has been gathered with regard to their 

 economy. The secrets of their little lives, apparently so trivial, have been discovered, 

 and their wonderful instincts and habits patiently unfolded, until the conclusion has been 

 reached, that they stand highest of all the insect race with regard to intelligence. Indeed, 

 Sir John Lubbock declares that, " when we consider their habits, their social organization, 

 large communities and elaborate habitations, their roadways, their possession of domestic 

 animals, and even in some cases of slaves, it must be admitted that they have a fair claim 

 to rank next to man in the scale of intelligence." In this respect, the Anthropoid Apes, 

 so closely related to man in structure, and which so many naturalists would fain consider 

 as our ancestors, sink far below these little creatures. For, until we lind among the apes 

 farmers, cattle owners, miners, engineers, builders, soldiers, and even gentlemen slave 

 owners, as we do among the ants, we must consider the statement of Sir John Lubbock 

 to be true. 



In another aspect, ants are worthy of our notice. In all ages they have been used 

 to " point a moral," and their industry and foresight held up as an example to the sluggard 

 and the improvident. The Royal naturalist — the foremost entomologist and botanist of 

 his age — places the ant among the "four things which are little upon earth," but are 

 '• exceeding wise ;" and since his time, many a philosopher and moralist has drawn lessons 

 from its proceedings. 



Ants belong to the order Hyruenoptera, the highest order of the insect world as 

 regards organization and instincts. A society of ants is composed of at least three or 

 four classes of individuals, males, females, neuters or workers, and, in some species, soldiers. 

 The males and females, when first px - oduced, have four membraneous wings; the neuters, 

 however, are born without these appendages. The males, after having performed their 

 allotted part, die off and disappear. As among the bees, the female (of which there are 

 nearly always one or more in each nest) is the acknowledged head of the community, and 

 performs duties similar to those of the queen bee. Unlike the latter, however, when 

 Lng she is always wingless. The four gauzy wings which she possessed when she 

 issued from the parent nest are gone, either stripped off by the neuters, or voluntarily 



ded by the insect herself. The latter operation has been often witnessed. I once 

 saw a number of large ants (Formica herculeana) denuding themselves in this way.' They 

 flew to a small dead tree in my garden, and alighted on the branches. Then, by moving 

 their wings in every direction, tl. st disconnected them from their bodies. The 



ded wings fell slowly to the ground, and the ants contentedly crawled down the 

 trunk of the tree, and went off in different directions to begin their new life. The neuters 

 or workers form the great l>ulk of every community. They are smaller than the males 

 and females, and, in many species, are divided into two classes, workers and soldiers, the 



