ANTS AND THEIR HELPLESS CHILDREN. 289 
mother in the nest at home ; and they were stolen 
the summer before, some time between the months 
of June and August, when they were lying wrapped 
up in their cocoons, by an army of red ants which 
attacked the nest in which they lay. 
The first alarm was probably given by the appear- 
ance of a few scouts wandering round the nest, and 
as soon as the black ants saw them, there was terrible 
consternation. Some swarmed out to face the enemy, 
others rushed to seize the eggs, grubs, and cocoons, 
to carry them to the other side of the nest for 
safety, where the princesses followed them, while 
others blocked up the doors to defend the fortress. 
Meanwhile, the red army kept growing in numbers, 
more and more ants crowding round the poor black- 
ant city, till a semicircle of hundreds of warriors 
was formed, all standing with their antennae thrown 
back, and their mandibles wide open. Then the 
attack began ; the black ants fought bravely, clinging 
to the legs of their cruel foes, biting them, and 
striving to drive them off, and to bear their little 
ones away in safety. In vain ; overcome by the 
strength and number of their assailants, they had 
to give way, and soon the conquerors were swarming 
over the dead bodies of the defenders, and carrying 
off their cocoons. 
From this moment, the red ants did not attempt 
to fight, except with those of the black ones 
which tried to escape with their young. They 
hurried past all the others, pushing them aside, and 
occupied themselves entirely in making their way 
into the galleries, out of which each red ant came 
with her stolen treasure in her mouth, and set off 
U 
