56 



their auxiliaries, they have not themselves lost the instinct of working. It seems not 

 improbable that there is some division of function between the two species, but we have 

 as yet no distinct knowledge on this point ; and at any rate the F. sanguineas can " do " 

 for themselves, and carry on a nest, if necessary, without slaves. The ants usually 

 enslaved by this species are F.fusca, which is found in Canada. 



Another species, Polyergus rufescens, Fig. 18, No. 2, is much more dependent on its 

 slaves, being, indeed, almost entirely so. Even their bodily structure has undergone a 

 change, their mandibles have lost their teeth, and become useless save as warlike weapons. 

 They have lost the greater part of their instincts, their art of building, their domestic 

 habits, — for they show no eare for their young, all this being done by slaves ; their 

 industry, — they take no part in providing their daily supplies ; if the colony changes the 

 situation of its nest, the masters are all carried by the slaves on their backs to the new 

 one; nay, they have even lost the habit of feeding. Huber placed thirty of them with 

 some larva? and pupa? and a supply of honey in a box. "At first," he says, "they 

 appeared to pay some little attention to the larvae ; they carried them here and there, 

 and presently replaced them. More than one-half of the Amazons died of hunger in less 

 than two days. They had not even traced out a dwelling, and the few ants in existence 

 were languid and without strength. I commiserated their condition, and gave them one 

 of their black companions. This individual, unassisted, established order, formed a 

 chamber in the earth, gathered together the larvae, extricated several young ants that 

 were ready to quit the condition of pupa;, and preserved the life of the remaining 

 Amazons." These so-called workers of P. rufescens, though thus helpless and idle, are 

 numerous, energetic, and in some respects almost brilliant, but their energies are devoted 

 to the war-like spoliation of their neighbours. 



In another slave-making ant, Strongylognathus, the workers are much less numerous, 

 and so weak that it is an unsolved problem how they procure their slaves, a species called 

 Tetramorium, ccespitum. Nevertheless, they are always found with the latter, and in 

 these mixed nests there are no males or females of Tetramorium, but only those of 

 Strongylognathus. Another genus, Anergates, has a history still more extraordinary. It 

 differs from the others in having no workers, the nests in which it is found consisting of 

 males and females only, of Anergates, and the workers only of Tetramorium. The male, 

 as well as the female, is wingless, and they are absolutely dependent upon their slaves, 

 and caunot even feed themselves. How they obtain the mastery over the workers is a 

 problem which has not yet been solved. Sir John Lubbock suggests that a male and 

 female make their way into a neat- of Tetramorium, and in some manner contrive to 

 assassinate their queen. If this was done, we should find the following year a community 

 composed of the two Anergates, their young, and the Tetramorium workers, in the manner 

 described by Van Hagens and Forel. 



Sir John Lubbock says that " these four genera offer us every gradation from lawless 

 violence to contemptible parasitism. 



" Formica Sanguima, which may be assumed to have comparatively recently taken 

 to slave-making, has not as yet been materially affected. 



" Polyergus, on the contrary, already illustrates the lowering tendency of slavery. 

 They have lost their knowledge of art, their natural affection for their young, and even 

 their instinct of feeding ! They are, however, bold and powerful marauders. 



" In Strongylognathus the enervating influence of slavery has gone further, and told 

 even upon their l>odily strength. They are no longer able to capture their slaves in fair 

 and open warfare. Still they retain a semblance of authority, and, when roused, will 

 tight bravely, though in vain. 



•• In Anergates, finally, we come to the last scene of this sad history. We may safely 

 conclude that in distant times their ancestors lived, as so many ants do now, partly by 

 hunting, partly on honey ; that by degrees they became bold marauders, and gradually 

 took to keeping slaves ; that for a time they maintained their strength and agility, though 

 losing by degrees their real independence, their arts, and many of their instincts; that 

 gradually even their bodily force dwindled away under the influence to which they had 

 subjected themselves, until they sank to their present degraded condition — weak in body 

 and mind, few in numbers, and apparently nearly extinct : the miserable representatives 



