Insects. 



8213 



July 5th, 8 a. M. Found a small party of ants at work ; one I found car- 

 rying a large burden, which it let fall on being touched ; it was a white, 

 semitransparent mass, about the size of the egg, and not unlike a grub 

 of some kind, there being at the extremity a small curved head-like 

 projection of a brownish colour: another carrying off a dead soldier I 

 likewise stopped, but instead of dropping its victim it struggled hard to 

 retain it, hurrying on faster than ever, but I finally succeeded with a 

 stem of grass in drawing the dead body from its grasp, but not until 

 one of the antennae had been broken off at the head or angle and the 

 near hind leg injured, causing it to go limping away, though it soon 

 recovered of this, and, notwithstanding the loss of the antenna, seemed 

 little the worse for the encounter: it had been dragging the body 

 with and by the antennas, but, on meeting with any obstacle or im- 

 pediment, one of the fore legs was frequently raised to assist in getting 

 over it. One fine-looking soldier, of a lighter chesnut-brown, though 

 of the same size as the rest, 1 observed polishing itself off: beginning 

 at the head, which was held down for the purpose, it frequently passed 

 the hand-like antennas over it, then squatting down and thrusting the 

 posterior forward, so that it could readily be laid hold of by the 

 antennas, it was seemingly pressed, as if for the purpose of extracting 

 oily matter wherewith to anoint itself. I observed it do this two or 

 three times in the course of as many minutes. 



July 6th. Watched, for half an hour or more, a party of ants 

 taking their morning repast off a worm but recently killed, for the 

 blood was oozing from it; it was partially coiled up, forming a half- 

 circle, within which the ants had chiefly collected, though some were 

 on the body, mostly towards the anterior part, which was discoloured 

 and swollen. Here they had already managed to make some incisions ; 

 in fact, deep cavities, into which the head was thrust, apparently to 

 suck the blood, for during this operation there was no discernible 

 motion, whereas when feeding on the flesh there was a constant 

 lateral motion of the head, giving each side of the jaw alternate play. 

 One had managed to cut out and almost sever a solid lump of flesh, 

 but the tenacity and elasticity of the skin was such that its efforts to 

 gnaw through it were in vain ; it then tugged at it, but with no better 

 success, for though greatly distended it did not snap : a comrade, 

 seeing this, went to its assistance, and began gnawing away at the 

 part nearest the body, while the other pulled with all its might, 

 assisted by the antennas and occasionally by its fore legs, the centre 

 ones being thrust out at a right angle with the body, the bind 

 legs thrown back to their greatest stretch and wide apart. After 



