2 x 3 Special Instincts. Chap, viii 



on the slaves being captured in greater numbers in Switzerland 



than in England. 



One day I fortunately witnessed a migration ofF. sanguinea from 

 one nest to another, and it was a most interesting spectacle to 

 behold the masters carefully carrying their slaves in their jaws 

 instead of being carried by them, as in the case of F. rufescens. 

 Another day my attention was struck by about a score of the slave- 

 makers haunting the same spot, and evidently not in search of 

 food ; uiej approached and were vigorously repulsed by an inde- 

 pendent community of the slave-species (F. fusca) ; sometimes as 

 many as three of these ants clinging to the legs of the slave-making 

 F. sanguinea. The latter ruthlessly killed their small opponents, 

 and carried their dead bodies as food to their nest, twenty-nine yards 

 distant ; but they were prevented from getting any pupae to rear 

 as slaves. I then dug up a small parcel of the pupae of F. fusca 

 from another nest, and put them down on a bare spot near the 

 place of combat ; they were eagerly seized and carried off by the 

 tyrants, who perhaps fancied that, after all, they had been victorious 

 in their late combat. 



At the same time I laid on the same place a small parcel of the 

 pupa3 of another species, F. flava, with a few of these little yellow 

 ants still clinging to the fragments of their nest. This species is 

 sometimes, though rarely, made into slaves, as has been described 

 by Mr. Smith. Although so small a species, it is very courageous, 

 and I have seen it ferociously attack other ants. In one instance 

 I found to my surprise an independent community of F. flava 

 under a stone beneath, a nest of the slave-making F. sanguinea ; 

 and when I had accidentally disturbed both nests, the little ants 

 attacked their big neighbours with surprising courage. Now I was 

 curious to ascertain whether F. sanguinea could distinguish the 

 pupae of F. fusca, which they habitually make into slaves, from 

 those of the little and furious F. flava, which they rarely capture, 

 and it was evident that they did at once distinguish them ; for 

 we have seen that they eagerly and instantly seized the pupae of 

 F. fusca, whereas they were much terrified when they came across 

 the pupae, or even the earth from the nest, of F. flava, and quickly 

 ran away ; but in about a quarter of an hour, shortly after all the 

 little yellow ants had crawled away, they took heart and carried 

 of! the pupae. 



One evening I visited another community of F. sanguinea, and 

 found a number of these ants returning home and entering their 

 nests, carrying the dead bodies of F. fusca (showing that it was not 

 a migration) and numerous pupae. I traced a W file of ants 



