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attacks of other insects. Our English ants do not store up provision for the winter; indeed, their food is not of a nature which would admit of this. I have indeed observed that the small brown ant sometimes carries seeds of the violet into its nest, but for what purpose is not clear. Some of the southern ants. however, lay up stores of grain (see Chapter III.).

Ants have many enemies. They themselves, and still more their young, are a favourite food of many animals. They are attacked also by numerous parasites. If a nest of the brown ants is disturbed at any time during the summer, some small flies may probably be seen hovering over the nest, and every now and then making a dash at some particular ant. These flies belong to the genus Phora, and to a species hitherto unnamed, which Mr. Verrall has been good enough to describe for me (see Appendix). They lay their eggs on the ants, inside which the larvæ live. Other species of the genus are in the same way parasitic on bees. Ants are also sometimes attacked by mites. On one occasion I observed that one of my ants had a mite attached to the underside of its head. The mite, which maintained itself for more than three months in the same position, was almost as large as the head. The ant could not remove it herself. Being a queen, she did not come out of the nest, so that I could not do it for her, and none of her own companions thought of performing this kind office.

In character the different species of ants differ very

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much from one another. F. fusca (Pl. I. fig. 3), the one which is pre-eminently the 'slave' ant, is, as might be expected, extremely timid; while the nearly allied F. cinerea has, on the contrary, a considerable amount of individual audacity. F. rufa (Pl. II. fig. 5), the horse ant, is, according to M. Forel, especially characterised by the want of individual initiative, and always moves in troops; he also regards the genus Formica as the most brilliant; though others excel it in other respects, as, for instance, in the sharpness of their senses. F. pratensis worries its slain enemies; F. sanguinea (Pl. I. fig. 6) never does so. The slave-making ant (P. rufescens, Pl. I fig. 5) is, perhaps, the bravest of all. If a single individual finds herself surrounded by enemies, she never attempts to fly, as any other ant would, but transfixes her opponents one after another, springing right and left with great agility, till at length she succumbs, overpowered by numbers. M. scabrinodis is cowardly and thievish; during wars among the larger species they haunt the battle-fields and devour the dead. Tetramorium is said to be very greedy; Myrmecina very phlegmatic.

In industry ants are not surpassed even by bees and wasps. They work all day, and in warm weather, if need be, even at night too. I once watched an ant from six in the morning, and she worked without intermission till a quarter to ten at night. I had put ber to a saucer containing larvæ, and in this time she

carried off no less than a hundred and eighty-seven to the nest. I had another ant, which I employed in my experiments, under continuous observation several days. When I started for London in the morning, and again when I went to bed at night, I used to put her in a small bottle, but the moment she was let out she began to work again. On one occasion I was away from home for a week. On my return I took her out of the bottle, placing her on a little heap of larvæ about three feet from the nest. Under these circumstances I certainly did not expect her to return. However, though she had thus been six days in confinement, the brave little creature immediately picked up a larva, carried it off to the nest, and after half an hour's rest returned for another.

Our countryman Gould noticed' certain amusements' or 'sportive exercises,' which he had observed among ants. Huber also mentions2 scenes which he had witnessed on the surface of ant hills, and which, he says, 'I dare not qualify with the title gymnastic, although they bear a close resemblance to scenes of that kind.' The ants raised themselves on their hind legs, caressed one another with their antennæ, engaged in mock combats, and almost seemed to be playing hide and seek. Forel entirely confirms Huber's statements, though he was at first incredulous.

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1 An Account of English Ants, p. 103. Nat Hist. of Ants, p. 197.

Loc. cit., p. 867.

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'Malgré l'exactitude avec laquelle il décrit ce fait, j'avais peine à y croire avant de l'avoir vu moi-même, mais une fourmilière pratensis m'en donna l'exemple à plusieurs reprises lorsque je l'approchai avec précaution. Des (ie. workers) se saisissaient par les pattes ou par les mandibules, se roulaient par terre, puis se retachaient, s'entraînaient les unes les autres dans les trous de leur dôme pour en ressortir aussitôt après, etc. Tout cela sans aucun acharnement, sans venin; il était évident que c'était purement amical. Le moindre souffle de ma part mettait aussitôt fin à ces jeux. J'avoue que ce fait peut paraître imaginaire à qui ne l'a pas vu, quand on pense que l'attrait des sexes ne peut en être cause.'

Bates, also, in the case of Eciton legionis, observed behaviour which looked to him like simple indulgence in idle amusement, the conclusion,' he says, 'that the ants were engaged merely in play was irresistible.'1

Lastly, I may observe that ants are very cleanly animals, and assist one another in this respect. I have often seen them licking one another. Those, moreover, which I painted for facility of recognition were gradually cleaned by their friends.

Loc. cit., vol. ii. p. 868.

CHAPTER II.

ON THE FORMATION AND MAINTENANCE OF NESTS, AND ON THE DIVISION OF LABOUR.

It is remarkable that notwithstanding the researches of So many excellent observers, and though ants' nests swarm in every field and every wood, we did not know how their nests commence.

Three principal modes have been suggested. After the marriage-flight the young queen may either— 1. Join her own or some other old nest;

2. Associate herself with a certain number of workers, and with their assistance commence a new nest; or

3. Found a new nest by herself.

The question can of course only be settled by observation, and the experiments made to determine it had hitherto been indecisive.

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Blanchard, indeed, in his work on the Metamorphoses of Insects' (I quote from Dr. Duncan's translation, p. 205), says: Huber observed a solitary female go down into a small under-ground hole, take off her own wings, and become, as it were, a worker; then she constructed a small nest, laid a few eggs, and brought

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