180 FoKmciD^. INSECTS. Formica sanguinea. 
lady b}'' some of the Staphylinidse, which seem to be 
in some way useful to the community ; they probably 
yield some secretion which serves as food to the young 
brood. — See part Coleoptera, subject Braclielytra 
further on. 
FORMICA SANGTHNEA, to which we refer more 
particularly further on, plunders the nests of other 
species of ants of their pupae, which it rears ; when 
perfect, they are the slaves of this ant. It constructs 
its galleries in banks ; its large workers are a bold and 
courageous race, attacking with great fury. It is not 
a very common species. 
FORMICA FUSCA is a common species, found in 
banks, particularly those with a warm southern aspect. 
By removing the particles of earth, this species con- 
structs in these banks large and intricate galleries and 
passages. These nests often contain some of the rarest 
little beetles, which are much prized by entomologists. 
FORMICA FULIGINOSA is of a jet-black colour. It 
forms its chambers in decajdng trees or old posts, which 
they gnaw into numberless stories. The movements of 
this species are extremely slow as compared with those 
of any other species. Numbers of these ants frequently 
congregate in masses near the nest, apparently sunning 
themselves, and not, like other species, incessantly at 
work. 
FORMICA NIGRA, commonly called the Garden Ant, 
is a most abundant species in this country, being found 
everywhere. It is abundant even in the gardens and 
squares of London. It usually builds in banks, but 
is also found in walls of gardens and outhouses. 
FORMICA FLAVA, so called from its yellow workers, is 
a most abundant species everywhere. It raises its little 
mounds in meadows and on heaths. These mounds 
serve to carry off the rain from its dwelling. In hilly 
districts it avails itself of the protection of a stone or 
other substance, beneath the shelter of which it con- 
structs its roads and nurseries. 
PONERA CONTRACTA is a rare ant in this country ; 
only occasional specimens have been taken. 
The Myrmicidce are small ants, the pupae of which 
are not inclosed in cocoons ; the petiole of the abdomen 
bas two nodes. One of the species, the Myrmica 
scabrinodis, is frequently to be met with, occupying one 
side of a little hillock, thrown up by Formica flam. 
In some parts of the country it abounds to such an 
extent, that clouds consisting of myriads of the winged 
males and females are seen flying in the air, frequently 
taking the course of rivers, when thousands of specimens 
may be seen floating in the stream. 
MYRMICA C.S1SPITUM is a local species in this 
country, but in many places on the coast it is found 
abundantly. 
MYRMICA MOLESTA is a small ant, most abundant 
in houses ; hence Mr. Shuckard named it M. domestica. 
It sometimes becomes so numerous in houses as to 
be a perfect nuisance, swarming over eatables of every 
kind. This domestic ant seems to have been intro- 
duced with merchandise. It is abundant in Norlh 
America, and we were told by the Rev. Hamlet Clark, 
that at Rio Janeiro it is everywhere — indoors, out of 
doors, and upon everything. 
The walls of the burrows of some of the European 
and American Sinis{Formicafuliginosa — F. Carya) are 
always of a black colour. This discoloration is not con- 
fined to the surface of the burrow, but penetrates 
through the wood surrounding it on all sides to the 
depth of an inch or more ; probably the ant, by 
saturating the wood with acid, hastens its decay, so 
that it may be more easily mined. These burrows 
are long narrow passages. 
Some ants are furnished with a remarkable instinct ; 
this instinct, that of slave-making, was first discovered 
by one of tbe Hubers.* This indefatigable observer 
first noticed the habit in the Formica rufescens, 
and has shown that the species is absolutely depen- 
dent on its slaves. The males do not work, and 
fertile females only keep up the race, and the only 
work the sterile females engage in is that of capturing 
slaves. They neither make their own nests, nor feed 
their own larvse. Should the old nest prove incon- 
venient, the slaves determine the migration to more 
suitable quarters, and actually carry tbeir masters in 
their jaws ; these are so helpless, that when Huber 
shut up thirty of them without a slave, although 
they had plenty of their favourite food and had their 
larvae and pupae to stimulate them to work, they did 
nothing — they could not feed themselves. Our 
observer introduced a single slave of the species, 
named Formica fusca by naturalists. This ant in- 
stantly set to work, fed and saved the survivors, made 
some cells, and attended to the larvae. 
The Formica sanguinea, which is found in the south 
of England, is also a slave-maker. Mr. Darwin says, 
“ Although fully trusting to the statements of Huber 
and Mr. Smith, I tried to approach the subject in a 
sceptical frame of mind, as any one may well be 
excused for doubting the truth of so extraordinary 
and odious an instinct as that of making slaves. 
Henee, I will give the observations which I have 
myself made, in some little detail. I opened fourteen 
nests of F. sangiiinea, and found a few slaves in all. 
Males and fertile females of the slave -species {F. fusca) 
are found only in their own proper communities, and 
have never been observed in the nests of the F. san- 
guinea." He observes that the slaves are black, and 
not above half the size of their red masters. If the 
nest be slightly disturbed the slaves come out, and 
like their masters, are much agitated, and defend the 
nest. Should the larvte and pupae be exposed, the 
slaves work energetically with their masters in remov- 
ing them to a place of safety. The slaves feel quite 
at home. During the months of June and July, in 
three successive years, Mr. Darwin watched several 
nests in Surrey and Sussex for many hours, and never 
saw a slave either leave or enter a nest. The masters 
bring in material for the nest and food of all kinds, 
although, occasionally, slaves are observed assisting in 
the latter operations. Huber says that in Switzerland 
the slaves habitually work with the masters in making 
the nests, and they alone open and close the doors in 
the morning and evening. Huber also noticed that their 
principal office was to search for aphides or plant-lice. 
* The account here given is from chap. vii. of Mr. Dar- 
win’s work on the Origin of Species, as that author has 
paid very considerable attention to the subject. 
