PERLVECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. Sl 
making a passage through the midst of them, carry off 
in their mouth the larvee and pupa. The surface of the 
nest thus becomes the scene of an obstinate conflict, and 
the assailants are often deprived of the prey which they 
had seized. The miners dart upon them, fight them 
foot to foot, dispute every inch of their territory, and 
defend their progeny with unexampled courage and rage. 
When the rufescents, laden with pillage, retire, they do 
it in close order—a precaution highly necessary, since 
their valiant enemies, pursuing them, impede their pro- 
gress for a considerable distance from their residence. 
During these combats the pillaged ant-hill presents 
in miniature the spectacle of a besieged city; hundreds 
of its inhabitants may be seen making their escape, and 
carrying off in different directions, to a place of security, 
some the young brood, and others their females that are 
newly excluded: but when the danger is wholly passed, 
_ they bring them back to their city, the gates of which 
they barricade, and remain in great numbers near them 
to guard the entrance. 
Formica sanguinea, as I observed above, is another 
of the slave-making ants; and its proceedings merit sepa- 
rate notice, since they differ considerably from those of 
the rufescents. They construct their nests under hedges 
of a southern aspect, and likewise attack the hills both 
of the negroes and miners. On the 15th of July, at ten 
in the morning, Huber observed a small band of these 
ants sallying forth from their formicary, and marching 
rapidly to a neighbouring nest of negroes, around which 
it dispersed. The inhabitants, rushing out in crowds, 
attacked them and took several prisoners: those that 
escaped advanced no further, but appeared to wait for 
VOL. Il. G 
