50 



On the Habits of Ants. 



arc, for the time, useless : tending them nevertheless with the • 

 utmost care, and the most assiduous service, with a view to the re- 

 turn of spring when they will again become of use; thus affording 

 an instance of prudence and forethought, unexampled I believe in 

 the animal kingdom. 



I have also had the opportunity of watching in my nests several 

 of the other insects, &c, which live in association with ants. M. 

 Andre, who has specially studied this part of the question, records, 

 from his own observations and those of others, no less than 588 

 species which are thus found in association with ants, and the list 

 will no doubt be very greatly increased. In some cases indeed the 

 association is accidental, in others it arises from the fact that the 

 ants' nests form a convenient place of retreat. In some cases the 

 ants are perhaps unable to relieve themselves from undesirable com- 

 panionship ; but there still remain many in which these so-called 

 c< Myrmecophilous 33 (or " ant-loving ") species are kept as we keep 

 cows, and as the ants themselves keep aphides. 



Nor are the relations of ants to one another less remarkable. The 

 common horse ant (F. rufa) is said in some rare cases to live in 

 association with other ants ; generally with F. fusca. Such cases 

 however are very exceptional ; nor has any instance, so far as I 

 know, yet been met with in this country. A nearly-allied species 

 however, F. sanguinea, which occurs in some of our southern counties, 

 is frequently, though not always, found associated with the same 

 F. fusca. In these cases the nests really belong to the F. sanguinea. 

 The queen is of that species, the young are of that species. The 

 F, fuscas, though not subject to any restraint and free to come or 

 go as they like, are still captives, having been carried off from their 

 nests, while still pupse, by the F. sanguineas. They have therefore 

 not inappropriately been called slaves, although, so far as we can 

 judge, they are quite reconciled to their position. They assist the 

 F. sanguinea in all the household duties and in foraging for supplies 

 of food. There is however another species {Folyergus rufescens) in 

 which slavery is carried to a greater extreme. In this case the slave- 

 making species takes no part whatever in the duties of the nest, in 

 the care of the young or in the search for food ; nay, as Huber first 



