260 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. 



hill. The ground-floor becoming, in its turn, unin- 

 habitable during the rainy season, the ants of this 

 species transport what most interests them to the 

 higher stories ; 'and it is there we find them more 

 usually assembled, with their eggs and pupse, when 

 the subterranean apartments are submerged."* 



Ants have a great dislike to water, when it exceeds 

 that of a light shower to moisten their building-ma- 

 terials. One species, mentioned by Azara as indige- 

 nous to South America, instinctively builds a nest 

 from three to six feet high,t to provide against the 

 inundations during the rainy season. Even this, 

 however, does not always save them from submer- 

 sion ; and, when that occurs, they are compelled, 

 in order to prevent themselves from being swept 

 away, to form a group, somewhat similar to the cur- 

 tain of the wax-workers of hive-bees (see page 1 14). 

 The ants constituting the basis of this group lay 

 hold of some shrub for security, while their compa- 

 nions hold on by them ; and thus the whole colony, 

 forming an animated raft, floats on the surface of the 

 water till the inundation (which seldom continues 

 longer than a day or two) subsides. We confess, 

 however, that we are somewhat sceptical respecting 

 this story, notwithstanding the very high character of 

 the Spanish naturalist. 



It is usual with architectural insects to employ 

 some animal secretion, by way of mortar or size, to 

 temper the materials with which they work ; but the 

 whole economy of ants is so different, that it would 

 be wrong to infer from analogy a similarity in this 

 respect, though the exquisite polish and extreme de- 

 licacy of finish in their structures lead, naturally, to 

 such a conclusion. M. P. Huber, in order to resolve 

 this question, at first thought of subjecting the ma- 

 terials of the walls to chemical analysis, but wisely 



* M. V. Huber on Anls, page 20. 

 f Sledman's Surinam, vol. i. p. 160, 



