282 
STRANGE DWELLINGS . 
The remarkable fact has already been mentioned, that two 
species of Wasp will inhabit the same nest, and amicably work l 
at the same edifice. Entomologists have long been aware that 
two species of Ant will dwell in the same nest, and live upon 
friendly terms, although the association of the working part of 
the community is not voluntary, but compulsory. 
The Ant which employs enforced labour is called the 
Amazon Ant ( Polyergus rufescens ), and is tolerably common 
on the Continent. This insect is not furnished with jaws 
which are capable of performing the work that usually falls to 
the lot of the neuters ; but the same length and sharpness of I 
the mandibles which unfit the insect for' work, render it emi- 
nently capable of warfare. When, therefore, a colony of the I 
Amazon Ants is about to establish itself, the insects form 
themselves into an army, and set off on a slave-hunting ex- 
pedition. 
There are at least two species of Ant which act as servants 
to the Amazon Ants, the one being named Formica fusca , and 
the other Formica cunicularia ; and to the nests of one or other 
of these insects the Amazons direct their march. 
As soon as they reach the nest, they penetrate into all its 
recesses, in spite of opposition, and search every corner for 
their spoil. This consists solely of the pupae which will after- 
wards be developed into neuters ; and vast numbers of the un- 
conscious young are carried off in the jaws of the conquerors. 
The rightful owners and relatives of the captured young cannot 
resist the enemy, as their shorter though more generally useful 
jaws are unable to contend with the long and sharply-pointed 
weapons of their foes. 
After the marauding army has returned, the living spoils are 
carefully deposited in the nest, where they are speedily hatched 
into perfect insects of the worker class, and immediately take 
on themselves the labours of the nest, just as they would have 
done in their own home. The Amazon Ant seems to be utterly I 
incapable of work ; and in one notable instance, when a num- 
ber of them were confined in a glass-case, together with some 
