ANTS— WARS. 
69 
their minds. Then some of them entered the nest, soon 
after which hosts of warriors streamed out of the entrances, 
and ran about tapping each other with their heads and 
antennae. They then formed into column and set out to 
pillage the nest of the slave ants. The following is the 
account which Lespes gives of such expeditions s— 
They only take place towards the end of the summer and in 
autumn. At this time the winged members of the slave species 
(F. fusca and F 1 cunicularia) have left the nest, and the 
Amazons will not take the trouble to bring back useless con- 
sumers. When the sky is clear our robbers leave their town in 
the afternoon at about three or four o’clock. At first no order 
is perceptible in their movements, but when they are all 
gathered together they form a regular column, which then moves 
forward quickly, and each day in a different direction. They 
march closely pressed together, and the foremost always appear 
to be seeking for something on the ground. They are each 
moment overtaken by others, so that the head of the column is 
continually growing. They are in fact seeking the traces of the 
ants which they propose to plunder, and it is scent that guides 
them. They snuff over the ground like hounds following the 
track of a wild animal, and when they have found it they 
plunge headlong forward, and the whole column rushes on be- 
hind. The smallest armies I saw consisted of several hundred 
individuals, but I have also seen some four times as large. 
They then form columns which may be five metres long, and as 
much as fifty centimetres wide. After a march, which often 
lasts a full hour, the column arrives at the nest of the slave 
species. The F. cunicularice, which are the strongest, offer 
keen opposition, but without much result. The Amazons soon 
penetrate within the nest, to come out again a moment later, 
while the assailed ants at the same time rush out in masses. 
During the whole time attention is directed solely to the larvae 
and pupae, which the Amazons steal while the others try to 
save as many as possible. They know very well that the Ama- 
zons cannot climb, so they fly with their precious burdens to 
the surrounding bushes or plants, whereto their enemies cannot 
follow them. They then pursue the retreating robbers and try 
to take away from them as much of their booty as possible. 
But the latter do not trouble themselves much about them, and 
hasten on home. On their return they do not follow the short- 
est road, but exactly the one by which they came, finding their 
way back by smell. Arrived at their nest, they immediately 
