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their hosts "watch with the greatest solicitude, bearing them tenderly hack should they 

 stray away, and hurrying them off to the innermost recesses of their subterranean burrows 

 at the appearance of danger.'' Two years ago I examined a number of ants' nests on 

 Montreal mountain, and found in many of them a species of small beetle which seemed to 

 foe at home, and friendly with the owners of the nests. I could not get it named in 

 Montreal. No doubt our American species have habits in this respect similar to those of 

 the European ants. The subject is a curious one, and worthy of the attention of our 

 -entomologists. 



The nests of ants are of many different kinds. Some species make them altogether 

 under the surface of the ground, others build theirs in the shape of a dome, the galleries 

 and chambers being both above and below the surface level. None of our Canadian ants 

 make nests of any great size. The largest ant-hills formed by any British species are 

 those of Formica nifo., which are sometimes as big as a small hay-cock, but in South 

 America, ant-hills are found of fifteen or twenty feet in height. Inside the nest are 

 numerous small apartments, arranged in separate stories, and communicating with each 

 other by means of galleries. Many of the species of those called Mason Ants construct 

 their habitations in a much more elaborate manner, making use of soft clay which they 

 knead and mould with their mandibles and feet. The partition-walls of the galleries and 

 chambers of Formica brunnea are about one-twentieth of an inch thick, and half an 



inch high ; the roofs somewhat arched, and pillars 

 •are made use of as supports. Fig. 10 shows the 

 nest of Formica nigra,. Huber saw a working ant 

 of another species (F. fusca), without assistance, 

 make and cover in a gallery two or three inches long, 

 with a roof a perfect concave. Other species, the 

 Carpenter ants, make their homes in the trunks of 

 old trees, gnawing the wood into apartments and 

 galleries, with floors and partitions as thin as card. 

 Formica fla/oa builds its partitions of a sort of papier- 

 mache of sawdust, earth and spider's web. An East 

 Indian species, Myrmica Kirbii, forms a globular 

 nest of a congeries of tile-like laminae of cowdung, 

 the interior exhibiting a series of apartments and 

 galleries. And some in Australia form theirs of the 

 leaves of trees glued together, after being first brought 

 into position by the united strength of multitudes. 

 Amid this endless variety, each species prepares its 

 Fir.. 10. habitation as prompted by its special instinet, per- 



Typicalnestof^rw/rv, j///^. A, entrance; forms its task in a perfect manner, and with an 

 B, hall ; C, larg^ chamljer ; D, sanctum ; industry and perseverance which cannot be excelled. 

 S^ ai f S , ; r F , F ; entranCe ' t0 3anctlim - More than a thousand species of ants are 



known, and they are generally distributed over 

 the temperate and tropical regions of the globe. In tropical countries they are more 

 numerous in species and individuals than with us, and present a greater variety of 

 instincts and habits. The ants of temperate climates are, if we may so speak, more 

 eivilized than the others : more of the species have settled habits, and they lead quieter 

 lives than the ants of the tropics. It is true that some of the European ants are pre- 

 datory and warlike, and some have a liking for making slaves of their neighbours and 

 keeping them in bondage, but none of them can compare with the Foraging Ants of 

 South and Central America for tierceness and bloodthirstiness. These Ants (Eciton) 

 appear to have no fixed place of abode, but shift their camp at intervals of a few days, 

 and live by predatory forays, hunting in organized bands and ravaging the nests of other 

 species, or even attacking small animals. One of the best known speeies is Eciton 

 predsxtor, a small ant which hunts in dense hordes, and marches rapidly over a territory. 

 A moving phalanx of this species will extend over from four to six square yards ; and 

 any unwary insect meeting with, or falling into the serried ranks, is soon torn to pieces 

 and devoured. Eciton, hamata hunts both in. dense masses and in detached columns. The 



