THE YOUNG NATUEALIST. 



159 



BRITISH ANTS— By O. G. BIGNELL. 



(Continued from page 143 J 

 Shirley Common, New Forest, &c. The nest 

 generally found in banks, and this ant makes 

 slaves of F. fusca and others. F. fusca has, 

 I believe, been always found in their nests, 

 and is the principal slave. Mr. Rothney has 

 found from time to time in the nests of 

 sanguinea the following species, in addition to 

 F. fusca: — Lasius niger and flavus, Tapinoma 

 erratica, Myrmica ruginodis, scahrinodis, lobi- 

 comis, Leptothorax acervorum and Nylanderi. 



The late Mr. F. Smith appears (in the 

 summer of_1843), to have been the first per- 



I son in England to witness the slave-making 

 in full operation. He says " I visited the 



^ spot, and to my delight I found the army in 

 battle array. Is' umbers of the largest ants at 

 length separated from the rest, and formed 



' the advanced guard or van, and the whole 

 body was in motion. At a distance of about 

 twenty yards was a nest of Formica fusca. 

 This was the object of their attack. Without 

 the slightest pause, the advanced warriors 

 boldly entered the nest, and in poured swarms 

 after them. After a few moments had elapsed 

 numbers issued forth, each carrying their 

 slaves in their jaws. Occasionally, a number 

 of black ants rushed out of the nest and 

 gallantly attacked their invaders; but tbey 

 were quickly overcome, and carried off to the 

 nest of the victors. Frequently, however, 

 they were torn limb from limb, in which case 

 their mangled bodies were borne off, no doubt 

 for food, to the nest. In plundering a nest, 

 although numbers of ants are carried off, by 

 far the greater number convey the pupae, or 

 young brood, of the black ants ; and I have 

 some suspicion that it is these which, being 

 born in the nest, become slaves from birth." 



The Rev. W. V, White appears to have 

 found a nest on the 9th June, after the first 

 struggle had passed ; for he says my atten- 

 tion was arrested by ants of an unusual 

 appearance and peculiar gait traversing the 

 ground with wondrous expedition ; and while 



watching the triumphant procession of San- 

 guinea returning from the successful maraud- 

 ing expedition, I did not observe a single 

 black worker being borne along. The spoils 

 of conquest consisted almost entirely of pupse, 

 a small portion being larvae." 



Mr. Charles Darwin witnessed the slave- 

 making propensity of F. sanguinea during 

 June and July in three successive years, in 

 Surrey and Sussex. He also observed a 

 migration from one nest to another, the 

 masters carrying instead of being carried by 

 their slaves. 



4. Formica exsecta, Nyl. 



(Plate 5, fig. 10 ; worker, fig. 11 ; head of 

 do., fig. 12.) 



Similar in colour to Formica rufa, but 

 very distinct in form. The wide emargi- 

 nation at the back of the head, the smaller 

 eyes placed farther from the posterior 

 margin, and the sides of the head behind the 

 eyes converging to the posterior margin, 

 easily distinguish it in all the sexes, besides 

 the narrow, almost straight-sided and deeply 

 notched scale of the petiole, and the smaller 

 size of the male and female. Length 7-8 mill. 



Habitat. — Bournemouth and its neigh- 

 bourhood, Poole, and on the outskirts of the 

 New Forest, near Ringwood, by the Rev. W, 

 F. White. Male and female appear in July 

 (July 14th) ; the nest frequently found on 

 the open heath. 



5. Formica cunicularia, Ltr. 



Very like Formica rufa in colour. 



Male differs in being smaller, with clearer 

 wings ; in having the thorax without semi- 

 erect hairs, and the frontal area dull; the 

 legs clear, testaceous. Length, 8 mill. 



Female differs in having the metathorax 

 generally brown; the abdomen; dull the legs 

 clear, testaceous ; and the frontal area dull. 

 Length, 9 mill. 



WoEKEK like a small elongated rufa, but in 

 colour they vary very much ; sometimes they 

 (Continued on page 175,^ 



