Chapter 6

It would be quite impossible for them to creep even through short grass with loads on their heads for miles. They therefore bite off the grass close to the ground for a breadth of about five inches, and throw it on one side. Thus a road is constructed, which is finally made quite smooth and even by the continual passing to and fro of millions upon millions night and day. . . . . If the road is looked down upon from a height with these millions thickly pressed together, and all moving along with their green bannerets over their heads, it looks as though a giant green snake were gliding slowly along the ground; and this picture is all the more striking in that all these bannerets are swaying backwards and forwards.[33]

This observer made the experiment of interrupting the advance of a column of these ants, with the interesting result which he describes:—

I wished to see how they would manage if I put an obstacle in their way. Thick high grass stood on either side of their narrow road, so that they could not pass through it with the load on their heads. I placed a dry branch, nearly a foot in diameter, obliquely across their path, and pressed it down so tightly on the ground that they could not creep underneath. The first comers crawled beneath the branch as far as they could, and then tried to climb over, but failed owing to the weight on their heads. Meanwhile the unloaded ants from the other side came on, and when these succeeded in climbing over the bough there was such a crush that the unladen ants had to clamber over the laden, and the result was a terrible muddle. I now walked along the train, and found that all the ants with their bannerets on their heads were standing still,thickly pressed together, awaiting the word of command from the front. When I turned back to the obstacle, I saw with astonishment that the loads had been laid aside by more than a foot's length of the column, one imitating the other. And now work began on both sides of the branch, and in about half an hour a tunnel was made beneath it. Each ant then took up its burden again, and the march was resumed in the most perfect order.

A migration of these ants is thus described by the same observer:—

The road led towards a cocoa plantation, and here I soon discovered the building which I afterwards visited daily. As I again went thither one day I was met, at a considerable distance from the nest, by a closely pressed column coming thence, and all the ants laden with leaves, beetles, pupæ, butterflies, &c.; the nearer I came to the nest, the greater was the activity. It was soon plain to me that the ants were in the act of leaving their dwelling, and I walked along the train to discover the new abode. They had gone for some distance along the old road, and had then made a new one through the grass to a cooler place, lying rather higher. The grass on the new road was all bitten off close to the ground, and thousands were busy carrying the path on to the new building. At the new home itself was an unusual stir of life. There were all sorts of labourers—architects, builders, carpenters, sappers, helpers. A number were busy digging a hole in the ground, and they carried out little pellets of earth and laid them together on end to make a wall. Others drew along little twigs, straws, and grass-stalks, and put them near the place of building. I was anxious to know why they had quitted their old home, and when the departure was complete, I dug it up with a spade. At a depth of about a foot and a half I found several tunnels of a large marmot species, the terror of cocoa planters, because in making their passages they gnaw off the thickest roots of the cocoa plants. The interior of the ant-hill had apparently fallen in through these mines. Unfortunately I was unable to follow further the progress of the new building, for I was obliged to leave the next day for San Juan del Sur. When I returned at the end of a week the building was finished, and the whole colony was again busy with the leaves of the coffee plants.

Harvesting Ants(Atta).—The ants which, so far as atpresent known, practise the peculiar and distinctive habits to be described under this division belong for the most part to one genus,Atta, which, however, comprises a number of species distributed in localised areas over all the four quarters of the globe. Hitherto nineteen species have been detected as having the habits in question. These consist of gathering nutritious seeds of grasses during summer, and storing them in granaries for winter consumption. We owe our present knowledge concerning these insects to Mr. Moggridge,[34]who studied them in the south of Europe, Dr. Lincecum,[35]and Mr. MacCook,[36]who studied them in Texas, and Colonel Sykes[37]and Dr. Jerdon,[38]who made some observations upon them in India. They also occur scattered over a great part of Europe and in Palestine, where they were clearly known to Solomon and other classical writers of antiquity,[39]whose claim to accurate observation, although long disputed (owing to the authority of Huber), has now been amply vindicated.

Mr. Moggridge, who was a careful and industrious observer, found the following points of interest in the habits of the European harvesters. From the nest in various directions there proceed outgoing trains, which may be from twenty to thirty or more yards in length, and each consists of a double row of ants, moving, like the leaf-cutting ants, in opposite directions. Those in the outgoing row are empty-handed, while those in the incoming row are laden. But here the burdens are grass seeds. The roads terminate in the foraging ground, or ant-fields, and the insects composing the columns there become dispersed by hundreds among the seed-yielding grasses. The following is their method of collecting seeds; I quote from Moggridge:—

It is not a little surprising to see that the ants bring in not only seeds of large size and fallen grain, but also green capsules, the torn stalks of which show that they have been freshly gathered from the plant. The manner in which they accomplish this feat is as follows. An ant ascends the stem of a fruiting plant of shepherd's-purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris), let us say, and selects a well-filled but green pod about midway up the stem, those below being ready to shed their seeds at a touch. Then, seizing it in its jaws, and fixing its hind legs firmly as a pivot, it contrives to turn round and round, and so strain the fibres of the fruit-stalk that at length they snap. It then descends to the stem, patiently backing and turning upwards again as often as the clumsy and disproportionate burden becomes wedged between the thickly set stalks, and joins the line of its companions on their way to the nest. In this manner capsules of chickweed (Stellaria media) and entire calyces, containing the nutlets of calamint, are gathered; two ants also sometimes combine their efforts, when one stations itself near the base of the peduncle and gnaws it at the point of greatest tension, while the other hauls upon and twists it. I have never seen a capsule severed from its stalk by cutting alone, and the mandibles of this ant are perhaps incompetent to perform such a task. I have occasionally seen ants engaged in cutting the capsules of certain plants, drop them, and allow their companions below to carry them away; and this corresponds with the curious account given by Ælian of the manner in which the spikelets of corn are severed and thrown down 'to the people below,'τῷ δήμῳ τῷ κάτω.

The recognition of the principle of the division of labour which the latter observation supplies, is further proved by the following quotation from the same author. A dead grasshopper which was being carried into their nest was—

Too large to pass through the door, so they tried to dismember it. Failing in this, several ants drew the wings and legs as far back as possible, while others gnawed through the muscles where the strain was greatest. They succeeded at last in thus pulling it in.

The same thing is strikingly shown by the following quotation from Lespès:—

If the road from the place where they are gathering their harvest to the nest is very long, they make regular depôts for their provisions under large leaves, stones, or other suitable places, and let certain workers have the duty of carrying them from depôt to depôt.

Büchner (loc. cit.p. 101) also makes the following references to the statements of previous observers:—

The subterranean workers of this remarkable genus are very clever. The Rev. H. Clark reports from Rio de Janeiro, that theSa-ubashave made a regular tunnel under the bed of the river Parahyba, which is there as broad as the Thames at London, in order to reach a storehouse which is on the opposite bank. Bates tells us that close to the Magoary rice-mills, near Para, the ants bored through the dam of a large reservoir, and the water escaped before the mischief could be remedied. In the Para Botanical Gardens an enterprising French gardener did everything he could to drive theSa-ubasaway. He lit fires at the chief entrances of their nests, and blew sulphur vapour into their galleries by means of bellows. But how astonished was Bates when he saw the vapour come out at no less a distance than seventy yards! Such an extension have the subterranean passages of theSa-ubas.

The recognition of the principle of the division of labour, which is shown by the above observations, is further corroborated by the following quotation from Belt:—

Between the old burrows and the new one was a steep slope. Instead of descending this with their burdens, they cast them down on the top of the slope, whence they rolled down to the bottom, where another relay of labourers picked them up and carried them to the new burrow. It was amusing to watch the ants hurrying out with bundles of food, dropping them over the slope, and rushing back immediately for more.

The same thing has been observed, as already stated, of the leaf-cutting ants—those engaged in cutting frequently throwing down the fragments of leaf which they cut to the carriers below. The prevalence of this habit among various species of ants therefore renders credible the following statements of Vincent Gredler of Botzen which are thus recorded in 'der Zool. Gart.,' xv. p. 434:—

In Herr Gredler's monastery one of the monks had been accustomed for some months to put food regularly on his window-sillfor ants coming up from the garden. In consequence of Herr Gredler's communications he took it into his head to put the bait for the ants, pounded sugar, into an old inkstand, and hung this up by a string to the cross-piece of his window, and left it hanging freely. A few ants were in with the bait. These soon found their road out over the string with their grains of sugar, and so their way back to their friends. Before long a procession was arranged on the new road from the window-sill along the string to the spot where the sugar was, and so things went on for two days, nothing fresh occurring. But one day the procession stopped at the old feeding-place on the window-sill, and took the food thence, without going up to the pendent sugar-jar. Closer observation revealed that about a dozen of the rogues were in the jar above, and were busily and unwearyingly carrying the grains of sugar to the edge of the pot, and throwing them over to their comrades down below.

Many other instances of the division of labour might be given besides these, and those to be mentioned hereafter in other connections throughout the course of the present chapter; but enough has been said to show that the principle is unquestionably acted upon by sundry species of ants.

That ants are liable to make mistakes, and, when they do, that they profit by experience, is shown by the following experiment made by Moggridge; and many other instances might be given were it desirable:—

It sometimes happens that an ant has manifestly made a bad selection, and is told on its return that what it has brought home with much pains is no better than rubbish, and is hustled out of the nest, and forced to throw its burden away. In order to try whether these creatures were not fallible like other mortals, I one day took out with me a little packet of grey and white porcelain beads, and scattered these in the path of a harvesting train. They had scarcely lain a minute on the earth before one of the largest workers seized upon a bead, and with some difficulty clipped it with its mandibles and trotted back at a great pace to the nest. I waited for a little while, my attention being divided between the other ants who were vainly endeavouring to remove the beads, and the entrance down which the worker had disappeared, and then left the spot. On my return in an hour's time, I found the ants passing unconcernedly by and over the beads which lay where I had strewed them inapparently undiminished quantities; and I conclude from this that they had found out their mistake, and had wisely returned to their accustomed occupations.

When the grain is thus taken into the nest, it is stored in regular granaries, but not until it has been denuded of its 'husks' or 'chaff.' The denuding process is carried on below ground, and the chaff is brought up to the surface, where it is laid in heaps to be blown away by the wind.

It is a remarkable thing, and one not yet understood, why the seed, when thus stored in subterranean chambers just far enough below the surface to favour germination, does not germinate. Moggridge says that out of twenty-one nests and among many thousands of seeds that he examined, he only found twenty-seven cases of incipient germination. Moreover, all these cases occurred in months from November to February, while in the nests opened in October, March, April, and May, no sprouted seeds were discovered, though these are the months highly favourable to germination. He is at a loss to suggest the treatment to which the ants expose the seeds in order to prevent their sprouting. 'Apparently it is not that moisture or warmth or the influence of atmospheric air is denied to the seeds, for we find them in damp soil in genial weather, and often at but a trifling distance below the surface of the ground;' and he has proved that the vitality of the seeds is not impaired, for he succeeded in raising crops of young plants from seeds removed from the granaries.

He also says,—

By a fortunate chance I have been able to prove that the seeds will germinate in an undisturbed granary when the ants are prevented from obtaining access to it: and this goes to show not only that the structure and nature of the granary chamber is not sufficient of itself to prevent germination, but also that the presence of the ants is essential to secure the dormant condition of the seeds.I discovered in two places portions of distinct nests ofAtta structorwhich had been isolated owing to the destruction of the hollow wall behind which they lay, and then the granaries well filled up and literally choked with growing seeds, though the earth in which they lay completely enclosed and concealed themuntil by chance I laid them bare. In one case I knew that the destruction of the wall had only taken place ten days before, so that the seeds had sprouted in the interval.My experiments also tend to confirm this, and to favour the belief that the non-germination of the seeds is due to some direct influence voluntarily exercised by the ants, and not merely to the conditions found in the nest, or to acid vapours which in certain cases are given off by the ants themselves.

I discovered in two places portions of distinct nests ofAtta structorwhich had been isolated owing to the destruction of the hollow wall behind which they lay, and then the granaries well filled up and literally choked with growing seeds, though the earth in which they lay completely enclosed and concealed themuntil by chance I laid them bare. In one case I knew that the destruction of the wall had only taken place ten days before, so that the seeds had sprouted in the interval.

My experiments also tend to confirm this, and to favour the belief that the non-germination of the seeds is due to some direct influence voluntarily exercised by the ants, and not merely to the conditions found in the nest, or to acid vapours which in certain cases are given off by the ants themselves.

These experiments consisted in confining a large number of harvesting ants with their queen and larvæ in a glass test-tube partly filled with damp soil and various seeds, the whole being closed with a cork in the mouth of the test-tube. Under these circumstances the seeds all sprouted, showing that mere confinement in an atmosphere of exhalations from the ants did not prevent germination. Another series of experiments, undertaken at the suggestion of Mr. Darwin, on the effects of an atmosphere of formic acid, showed that although this vapour was very injurious to the seeds, it did not prevent their incipient germination. Therefore it yet remains to be ascertained why the seeds do not germinate in the granaries of the ants.

But in whatever way the ants manage to prevent germination, it is certain that they are aware of the importance in this connection of keeping the seeds as dry as possible; for Moggridge repeatedly observed that when the seeds which had been stored proved over-moist, the ants again took them out and spread them in the sun to dry, to be again brought into the nest after a sufficient exposure.

Lastly, he also repeatedly observed the most surprising and interesting fact that when, as we have seen was occasionally the case, the seeds did begin to germinate in the nests, the ants knew the most effective method of preventing the germination from proceeding; for he found that in these cases the ants gnawed off the tips of the radicles. This fact deserves to be considered as one of the most remarkable among the many remarkable facts of ant-psychology.

Passing on now to the harvesting or agricultural antsof Texas, attention was first called to the habits of this insect by Mr. Buckley in 1860,[40]and by Dr. Lincecum, who sent an account of his observations to Mr. Darwin, by whom they were communicated to the Linnæan Society in 1861. Five years later a paper was published in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia from the MS. of Dr. Lincecum. Lastly, in 1877 Mr. MacCook went to Texas expressly to study the habits of these insects, and he has recently embodied the results of his observations in a book of three hundred pages.[41]These observations are for the most part confirmatory of those of Lincecum, and for this as well as for reasons to be deduced from the work itself, they deserve to be accepted as trustworthy, notwithstanding that in some cases they are provokingly incomplete. The following is an epitome of these observations.

The ants clear away all the herbage above their nest in the form of a perfect circle, or 'disk,' 15 or 20 feet in diameter, by carefully felling every stalk of grass or weed that may be growing thereon. As the nests are placed in thickly grown localities, the effect of these bald or shaven disks is highly conspicuous and peculiar, exactly resembling in miniature the clearings which the settlers make in the American backwoods. The disk, however, is not merely cleared of herbage, but also carefully levelled, all inequalities of the surface being reduced by building pellets of soil into the hollows to an extent sufficient to make a uniformly flat surface. The action of rain and the constant motion of multitudes of ants cause this flat surface to become hard and smooth. In the centre of the disk is the gateway of the nest. This may be either a simple hole or a hollow cone.

From the disk in various directions there radiate ant-roads or avenues, which are cleared and smoothed like the disk itself, and which course through the thick surrounding grass, branching and narrowing as they go till they eventually taper away. These roads are usually three or four in number before they begin to branch, but may beas many as seven. They are usually two to three inches wide at their origin, but in large nests may be as much as five. MacCook found no road longer than sixty feet, but Lincecum describes one of three hundred feet. Along these hard and level roads there is always passing, during the daytime of the harvesting season, a constant stream of ants—those going from the nest being empty-handed, and those returning to it being laden with seeds. Of course the incoming ants, converging from all quarters upon the road, and therefore increasing in numbers as they approach the nest, require greater space for free locomotion; while the outgoing ants, diverging as they get further from home, also require greater proportional space the less their distance from the nest: hence the gradual swelling in the width of the roads as they approach the nests.

The manner of collecting the seeds in the jungle surrounding the roads is thus described by MacCook:—

At last a satisfactory seed is found. It is simply lifted from the ground, or, as often happens, has to be pulled out of the soil into which it has been tightly pressed by the rain or by passing feet. Now follows a movement which at first I thought to be a testing of the seed, and which, indeed, may be partially that; but finally I concluded that it was the adjusting of the burden for safe and convenient carriage. The ant pulls at the seed-husk with its mandibles, turning and pinching or 'feeling' it on all sides. If this does not satisfy, and commonly it does not, the body is raised by stiffening out the legs, the abdomen is curved underneath, and the apex applied to the seed. I suppose this to be simply a mechanical action for the better adjusting of the load. Now the worker starts homeward. It has not lost itself in the mazes of the grass forest. It turns directly towards the road with an unerring judgment. There are many obstacles to overcome. Pebbles, pellets of earth, bits of wood, obtruding rootlets, or bent-down spears of grass block up or hinder the way. These were scarcely noticed when the ant was empty-handed. But they are troublesome barriers now that she is burdened with a seed quite as thick, twice as wide, and half as long as herself. It is most interesting to see the skill, strength, and rapidity with which the little harvester swings her treasure over or around, or pushes it beneath these obstacles. Now the seed has caught against the herbage as theporter dodges under a too narrow opening. She backs out and tries another passage. Now the sharp points of the husk are entangled in the grass. She jerks or pulls the burden loose, and hurries on. The road is reached, and progress is comparatively easy. Holding the grain in her mandibles well above the surface, she breaks into what I may describe with sufficient accuracy as 'a trot,' and with little further interruption reaches the disk and disappears within the gate. There are variations from this behaviour, more or less marked, according to the nature of the grounds, the seeds, and (I suppose) the individuality of the harvesters; but the mode of ingathering the crop is substantially as above. Each ant operated independently. Once only did I see anything like an effort to extend sympathy and aid. A worker minor seeming to have difficulty in testing or adjusting a large seed of buffalo-grass, was assisted (apparently) by one worker major, and then by another, after which she went on her way.

But these ants do not confine their harvesting operations to gathering fallen seeds; they will, like the ants of Europe, also cut seeds from the stalk.

In order to test the disposition ofcrudelisto garner the seeds from the stem, bunches of millet were obtained from the North, and stalks eighteen inches high, crowned by the boll of close-set seeds, were stuck in the mound of an active formicary. The ants mounted the stems and set to work vigorously to secure the seeds, clusters of twenty or more being engaged at once upon one head. The seeds were carried off and stored within the nest. This experiment proved pretty conclusively that in the seeding seasoncrudelisdoes not wait for the seeds to drop, but harvests them from the plant.

The 'granaries' into which the seeds are brought are kept distinct from the 'nurseries' for the pupæ. Their walls, floor, and roof are so hard and smooth, that MacCook thinks the insects must practise upon them 'some rude mason's craft.'

He traced these granaries to a depth of four feet below the surface of the ground, and believes, from the statements of a native peasant, that they, or at least the formicaries, extend to a depth of fifteen feet.

As regards the care that the ants take of the gathered grain, Lincecum describes the same habit as Moggridge and Sykes describe—viz., the sunning of wet seeds todry. MacCook, however, neglected to make any experiments on this subject. Neither has he been able to throw any light upon the question as to why the stored seeds do not germinate, and is doubtful whether the habit of gnawing the radicle of sprouting seeds, which prevails in the European species, is likewise practised by the American. On two other points of importance MacCook's observations are also incomplete. One of these has reference to an alleged statement, which he is disposed to believe, that when some ants in a community have been killed by poison, the survivors avoid the poison: he, however, made no experiments to test this statement.

The other main point on which his observations are defective has reference to a remarkable statement made by Lincecum in the most emphatic terms. This statement is that upon the surface of their disk the ants sow the seeds of a certain plant, called ant-rice, for the purpose of subsequently reaping a harvest of the grain. There is no doubt that the ant-disks do very often support this peculiar kind of grass, and that the ants are particularly fond of its seed; but whether the plant is actually sown in these situations by the insects, or grows there on account of these situations being more open than the general surface of the ground—this question MacCook has failed to answer, or even to further. We are, therefore, still left with Dr. Lincecum's emphatic assurance that he has witnessed the fact. His account is that the seed of the ant-rice, which is a biennial plant, is sown in time for the autumnal rains to bring up. At the beginning of November a green row or ring of ant-rice, about four inches wide, is seen springing up round the circumference of the disk. In the vicinity of this circular ring the ants do not permit a single spire of any other grass or weed to remain a day, but leave the aristida, or ant-rice, untouched until it ripens, which occurs in June of the next year. After the maturing and harvesting of the seed, the dry stubble is cut away and removed from the pavement or disk, which is thus left unencumbered until the ensuing autumn, when the same species of grass again appears as before, and so on. Lincecum says he has seenthe process go on year after year on the same ant-farms, and adds,—

There can be no doubt of the fact that the particular species of grain-bearing grass mentioned above is intentionally planted. In farmer-like manner the ground upon which it stands is carefully divested of all other grasses and weeds during the time it is growing. When it is ripe the grain is taken care of, the dry stubble cut away and carried off, the paved area being left unencumbered until the ensuing autumn, when the same 'ant-rice' reappears within the same circle, and receives the same agricultural attention as was bestowed upon the previous crop—and so on year after year, as Iknowto be the case, in all situations when the ant's settlements are protected from graminivorous animals.

In a second letter Dr. Lincecum, in reply to an inquiry from Mr. Darwin whether he supposed that the ants plant seeds for the ensuing crop, says:—

I have not the slightest doubt of it. And my conclusions have not been arrived at from hasty or careless observation, nor from seeing the ants do something that looked a little like it, and then guessing at the results. I have at all seasons watched the same ant-cities during the last twelve years, and I know that what I stated in my former letter is true. I visited the same cities yesterday, and found the crop of ant-rice growing finely, and exhibiting also the signs of high cultivation, and not a blade of any other kind of grass or weed was to be seen within twelve inches of the circular row of ant-rice.—(Journ. Linn. Soc., vol. vi. p. 30-1.)

Now, MacCook found the ant-rice growing as described, but only on some nests. Why it does not grow upon all the nests he does not understand. So far, then, as his observations go, they confirm those of Dr. Lincecum; but he does 'not believe that the ants deliberately sow a crop as Lincecum asserts;' he thinks 'that they have for some reason found it to their advantage to permit the aristida to grow upon their disks, while they clear off all other herbage;' but finally concludes 'that there is nothing unreasonable, nor beyond the probable capacity of the emmet intellect, in the supposition that the crop is actually sown. Simply, it is the Scotch verdict—"Not proven."'

The following facts with regard to 'modes of mining' are worth quoting from MacCook:—

In sinking the galleries the difficulty of carrying is not great in a moist or tough soil, which permits the ant to obtain goodly-sized pellets for portage. But when the soil is light and dry, so that it crumbles into dust as it is bitten off, the difficulty is greatly increased. It would be a very tedious task indeed to take out the diggings grain by grain. This difficulty the worker overcomes by balling the small particles against the surface of the gallery, the under side of the head, or within and against the mandibles. The fore-feet are used for this purpose, being pressed against the side face, turned under, and pushed upward with a motion similar to that of a man putting his hand upon his mouth. The abdomen is then swung underneath the body and the apex pressed against the little heap of grains of dirt massed against the under side of the mandibles, or between that and the smooth under surface of the head. Thus the dust is compressed into a ball which is of sufficient size to justify deportation.The same operation is observed in the side-galleries, where the ants work very frequently upon their sides or backs, precisely as I have seen colliers do in Pennsylvania coal-mines.

The same operation is observed in the side-galleries, where the ants work very frequently upon their sides or backs, precisely as I have seen colliers do in Pennsylvania coal-mines.

The following is likewise worth quoting from the same author:—

Seeds are evidently not the only food of our agriculturals. When the ants at disk No. 2 had broken through the slight mud-sediment that sealed up their gate, as described above, they exhibited a peculiar behaviour. Instead of heading for the roads and pressing along them, they distributed themselves at once over the entire disk, radiating from the gate to all points in the circumference, from which they penetrated the jungle of grass beyond. In a moment a large number were returning across the roads, out of the grass, over the pavement toward the entrance. They bore in their mandibles objects which I presently found to be the males and females of white ants (Termes flavipes), which were filling the air, during and after the rain, in marriage flight. They had probably swarmed just before the shower. The agriculturals were under great excitement, and hurried forth and back at the top of their speed. The number of ants bearing termites was soon so great that the vestibule became choked, and a mass of struggling anthood was piled up around the gate. A stream of eager insects continually poured out of the door, pushing their waythrough the crowd that vainly but persistently endeavoured to get in with their burdens. The outcoming ants had the advantage, and succeeded in jostling through the quivering rosette of antennæ, legs, heads, and abdomens. Occasionally a worker gained an entrance by dint of sheer physical force and perseverance. Again and again would the crowd rush from all sides upon the gate, only to be pushed back by the issuing throng. In the meanwhile quite a heap of termites, a good handful at least, had been accumulated at one side of the gate, the ants having evidently dropped them, in despair of entrance, and hurried off to garner more.In due time the pressure upon the vestibule diminished, the laden workers entered more freely, and in the end this heap was transferred to the interior. The rapidity with which the ants were distributed to all parts of their roads, after the first opening of the gates, was truly surprising. I was greatly puzzled, at the first, to know what the cause of such a rush might be. The whole behaviour was such as to carry the conviction that they knew accurately what effect the rain would have, had calculated upon it, and were acting in accordance with previous experience. I had no doubt at the time, and have none now, that the capturing of insects beaten down by the rain is one of the well-established customs of these ants. I saw a few other insects taken in, and one milliped, but chiefly the white ants.That very afternoon I found in a formicary which I then opened several large colonies, or parts of one colony of termites, nested within the limits of the disk and quite at home. The next day numbers of the winged white ants were found stored within the granaries of a large formicary. There is no reason to doubt that these insects were intended for food, in accordance with the quite universal habit of theFormicariæ.

In due time the pressure upon the vestibule diminished, the laden workers entered more freely, and in the end this heap was transferred to the interior. The rapidity with which the ants were distributed to all parts of their roads, after the first opening of the gates, was truly surprising. I was greatly puzzled, at the first, to know what the cause of such a rush might be. The whole behaviour was such as to carry the conviction that they knew accurately what effect the rain would have, had calculated upon it, and were acting in accordance with previous experience. I had no doubt at the time, and have none now, that the capturing of insects beaten down by the rain is one of the well-established customs of these ants. I saw a few other insects taken in, and one milliped, but chiefly the white ants.

That very afternoon I found in a formicary which I then opened several large colonies, or parts of one colony of termites, nested within the limits of the disk and quite at home. The next day numbers of the winged white ants were found stored within the granaries of a large formicary. There is no reason to doubt that these insects were intended for food, in accordance with the quite universal habit of theFormicariæ.

A curious habit has been noticed by most observers to occur in many species of ant, and it is one on which Mr. MacCook has a good deal to say. The habit in question consists in the ants transporting one another from place to place. The carrying ant seizes her comrade by the middle, and hurries along with it held aloft—the ant which is carried remaining quite motionless with all her legs drawn together. Huber supposed the process to be one enjoyable to both the insects concerned, and to be performed by mutual understanding and consent; but MacCook, in common with most other observers, supposes that it ismerely a rough and primitive way of communicating to fellow-workers the locality where their services are required. He says:—

Keeping these facts in mind, we have a key to the solution of the press-gang operations which Lincecum observed among the agriculturals, and which have been fully described in other species. In the absence of any common head or directory, and of all executive officers, a change of location or any other concerted movement must be carried forward by the willing co-operation of individuals. At first sight, the act of seizing and carrying off workers does not appear like an appeal to free-will. It is indeed coercive, so far as the first act goes. But, in point of fact, the coercion ceases the moment the captive is set down within the precincts of the new movement. The carrier-ant has depended upon securing her consent and co-operation by thus bringing her within the circle of activity for which her service is sought. As a rule, no doubt, the deported ant at once yields to the influence around her, and drops into the current of fresh enterprise, in which she moves with as entire freedom and as independently as any other worker. But she is apparently under no restraint, and if she so please, may return to her former haunts.

Certain Ants of Africa.—Livingstone says of certain ants of Africa:—

They have established themselves on the plain where water stands so long annually as to allow the lotus and other aqueous plants to come to maturity. When all the ant-horizon is submerged a foot deep, they manage to exist by ascending to little houses built of black tenaceous loam on stalks of grass, and placed higher than the line of inundation. This must have been the result of experience, for, if they had waited till the water actually invaded their terrestrial habitations, they would not have been able to procure materials for their aërial quarters, unless they dived down to the bottom for every mouthful of clay.[42]

The Tree Ant of India and New South Wales.—These ants are remarkable from their habit of forming nests only in trees. According to Col. Sykes' account, the shape of the nest is more or less globular, and about ten inches in diameter. It is formed entirely of cow-dung, which theinsects collect from the ground beneath, and work into the form of thin scales. These are then built together in an imbricated manner, like tiles or slates upon the roof of a house, the upper or outer scale, however, being one unbroken sheet, which covers the whole nest like a skull-cap. Below this the scales are placed one upon another in a wavy or scalloped manner, so that numerous little arched entrances are left, and yet, owing to the imbricated manner in which the scales are arranged, the interior of the nest is perfectly protected from rain. This interior consists of a number of irregular cells, the walls of which are formed by the same process as the exterior.

In New South Wales there is another species of ant which also frequents trees, but builds within the stem and branches. In the report of Captain Cook's expedition its habits are thus described:—'Their habitations are the insides of the branches of a tree, which they contrive to excavate, by working out the pith almost to the extremity of the slenderest twig; the tree at the same time flourishing as if it had no such inmate.' On breaking one of the branches the ants swarm out in legions. Some of our native species also have the habit of excavating the interior of trees, though not on so extensive a scale.

Honey-making Ant(Myrmecocystus mexicanus).—This ant is found in Texas and New Mexico. Capt. W. B. Fleeson has observed its habits, and his observations have been communicated to the Californian Academy of Sciences, and also, by Mr. Henry Edwards, to Mr. Darwin. The following are the chief points of interest in Capt. Fleeson's results:—

The community appears to consist of three distinct kinds of ants, probably of two separate genera, whose offices in the general order of the nest would seem to be entirely apart from each other, and who perform the labour allotted to them without the least encroachment upon the duties of their fellows. These three kinds are—I. Yellow workers; nurses and feeders of II.II. Yellow honey-makers; sole function to secrete a kind of honey in their large globose abdomens, on which the other ants are supposed to feed. They never quit the nest, and are fed and tended by I.III. Black workers, guards, and purveyors; surround the nest as guards or sentinels, in a manner presently to be described, and also forage for the food required for I. They are much larger and stronger insects than either I. or II., and are provided with very formidable mandibles.

I. Yellow workers; nurses and feeders of II.

II. Yellow honey-makers; sole function to secrete a kind of honey in their large globose abdomens, on which the other ants are supposed to feed. They never quit the nest, and are fed and tended by I.

III. Black workers, guards, and purveyors; surround the nest as guards or sentinels, in a manner presently to be described, and also forage for the food required for I. They are much larger and stronger insects than either I. or II., and are provided with very formidable mandibles.

The nest is placed in sandy soil in the neighbourhood of shrubs and flowers, is a perfect square, and occupies about four or five square feet of ground, the surface of which is kept almost unbroken. But the boundaries of the nest are rendered conspicuous by the guard of black workers (III.), which continuously parade round three of its sides in a close double line of defence, moving in opposite directions. In the accompanying diagram this sentry path is represented by the thick black lines. These always face the same points of the compass, and the direction in which the sentries march is one column from south-west to south-east, and the other column from south-east to south-west—each column, however, moving in regular order round three sides of a square. The southern side of the encampment is left unguarded; but if any enemy approaches on this or any other side, a number of the guards leave their stations, and sally forth to face the foe—raising themselves on their hind tarsi on meeting the enemy, and moving their large mandibles in defiance. Spiders, wasps, beetles, and other insects, if they venture too near the nest, are torn to pieces by the guard in a most merciless manner, and the dead body of the vanquished is speedily removed from the neighbourhood of the nest—the guard then marching back to resume their places in the line of defence, their object in destroying other insects being the defence of their encampment, and not the obtaining of food.

The object of leaving the southern side of the square encampment open is as follows. While some of the black workers are engaged on duty as guard, another and larger division are engaged on duty as purveyors. These enter and leave the quadrangle by its open or southern side along the dotted line markedato the central pointc. The incoming line is composed of individuals each bearinga burden of fragments of flowers or aromatic leaves. These are all deposited in the centre of the quadranglec. Along the other diagonalethere is a no less incessantly moving double line of yellow workers (I.), whose office it is to convey the supplies deposited by the black workers atctob, which is the gateway of the fortress. It is remarkable that no black ant is ever seen upon the linee, and no yellow one upon the linea; each keeps his own separate station, and follows his own particular duty with a steadfastness and apparent adherence to discipline that are most astonishing. The hole atdseems to be a ventilating shaft; it is never used as a gateway.

Fig. 7.

Section of the nest reveals, besides galleries, a small chamber about three feet below the surface, across which is spread, like a spider's web, a network of squares spun by the insects, the squares being about ¼ inch across, andthe ends of the whole net being fastened to the earthen walls of the chamber. In each one of the squares, supported by the web, sits one of the honey-making ants (II.). Here these honey makers live in perpetual confinement, and receive a constant supply of flowers, pollen, &c., which is continually being brought them by (I.), and which, by a process analogous to that performed by the bee, they convert into honey.

Such is an epitome of the only account that the world has yet received of the habits and economy of this wonderful insect, whose instincts of military organization seem to be not less wonderful than those of the Ecitons, though in this case they are developed with reference to defence, and not to aggression. It is especially noteworthy that the black and yellow workers are believed to belong to 'two separate genera;' for if this is the case, it is the only one I can recall of two distinct species co-operating for a common end; for even the nearest parallel which we find supplied in other species of ants maintaining aphides, is not quite the same thing, seeing that the aphides are merely passive agents, like Class II., of the honey-making ant, and not actively co-operating members of the community, like Class I.

Ecitons.—We have next to consider the habits of the wonderful 'foraging,' or, as it might be more appropriately called, the military ant of the Amazon. These insects, which belong to several species of the same genus, have been carefully watched by Belt, Bates, and other naturalists. The following facts must therefore be accepted as fully established.

Eciton legionismoves in enormous armies, and everything that these insects do is done with the most perfect instinct of military organization. The army marches in the form of a rather broad and regular column, hundreds of yards in length. The object of the march is the capture and plunder of other insects, &c., for food, and as the well-organised host advances, its devastating legions set all other terrestrial life at defiance. From the main column there are sent out smaller lateral columns, the composing individuals of which play the part of scouts,branching off in various directions, and searching about with the utmost activity for insects, grubs, &c., over every log, under every fallen leaf, and in every nook and cranny where there is any chance of finding prey. When their errand is completed, they return into the main column. If the prey found is sufficiently small for the scouts themselves to manage, it is immediately seized, and carried back to the main column; but if the amount is too large for the scouts to deal with alone, messengers are sent back to the main column, whence there is immediately dispatched a detachment large enough to cope with the requirements. Insects which when killed are too large for single ants to carry, are torn in pieces, and the pieces conveyed back to the main army by different individuals. Many insects in trying to escape run up bushes and shrubs, where they are pursued from branch to branch and twig to twig by their remorseless enemies, until on arriving at some terminal ramification they must either submit to immediate capture by their pursuers, or drop down amid the murderous hosts beneath. As already stated, all the spoils that are taken by the scouts or by the detachments sent out in answer to their demands for assistance, are immediately taken back to the main column. When they arrive there, they are taken to the rear of that column by two smaller columns of carriers, which are constantly running, one on either side of the main column, with the supplies that are constantly pouring in from both sides. Each of these outside columns is a double line, the ants composing one of the two lines all running in the same direction as the main army, and the ants composing the other line all running in the opposite direction. The former are empty-handed carriers, which having deposited their burdens in the rear, are again advancing to the van for fresh burdens. Those composing the other line are all laden with the mangled remains of insects, pupæ of other ants, &c. On either side of the main column there are also constantly running up and down a few individuals of smaller size and lighter colour than the other ants, which seem to play the part of officers; for they never leave their stations, and while running up anddown the outsides of the column, they every now and again stop to touch antennæ with some member of the rank and file, as if to give instructions. When the scouts discover a wasp's nest in a tree, a strong force is sent out from the main army, the nest is pulled to pieces, and all the larvæ carried to the rear of the army, while the wasps fly around defenceless against the invading multitude. Or, if the nest of any other species of ant is found, a similarly strong force, or perhaps the whole army is deflected towards it, and with the utmost energy the innumerable insects set to work to sink shafts and dig mines till the whole nest is rifled of its contents. In these mining operations the ants work with an extraordinary display of organized co-operation; for those low down in the shafts do not lose time by carrying up the earth which they excavate, but pass on the pellets to those above; and the ants on the surface, when they receive the pellets, carry them, 'with an appearance of forethought that quite staggered' Mr. Bates, only just far enough to ensure that they shall not roll back again into the shaft, and, after depositing them, immediately hurry back for more. But there is not a rigid division of labour, although the work 'seems to be performed by intelligent co-operation amongst a host of eager little creatures;' for some of them act 'sometimes as carriers of pellets, and at another as miners, and all shortly afterwards assume the office of conveyors of the spoil.' Again, as showing the instincts of co-operation, the following may also be quoted from Bates's account:—

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