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diff --git a/77638-h/77638-h.htm b/77638-h/77638-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..05748c1 --- /dev/null +++ b/77638-h/77638-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,2444 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> + <title> + Life among the ants | Project Gutenberg + </title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + <style> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .51em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .49em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: 33.5%; + margin-right: 33.5%; + clear: both; +} + + +hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} +@media print { hr.chap {display: none; visibility: hidden;} } + + +hr.r5 {width: 5%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 47.5%; margin-right: 47.5%;} + + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} +h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} +table.autotable { border-collapse: collapse; } +table.autotable td, +table.autotable th { padding: 0.25em; } + +.tdl {text-align: left;} +.tdr {text-align: right;} +.tdc {text-align: center;} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: small; + text-align: right; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; + text-indent: 0; +} /* page numbers */ + +blockquote { + margin-top: 0; + margin-bottom: 0; + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + + +figcaption {font-weight: bold;} +figcaption p {margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: .2em; text-align: inherit;} + +/* Images */ + +img { + max-width: 100%; + height: auto; +} +img.w100 {width: 100%;} + + +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; + page-break-inside: avoid; + max-width: 100%; +} + +.x-ebookmaker body {margin: 0;} +.x-ebookmaker-drop {color: inherit;} + +.ph2, .ph3, .ph4 { text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; } +.ph2 { font-size: x-large; margin: .75em auto; } +.ph3 { font-size: large; margin: .83em auto; } +.ph4 { font-size: medium; margin: 1.12em auto; } + +.tnote {border: dashed 1px; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; +padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; padding-left: .5em; +padding-right: .5em;} + + +/* Illustration classes */ +.illowp100 {width: 100%;} +.illowp52 {width: 52%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp52 {width: 100%;} +.illowp47 {width: 47%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp47 {width: 100%;} +.illowp53 {width: 53%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp53 {width: 100%;} +.illowp65 {width: 65%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp65 {width: 100%;} + </style> +</head> +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77638 ***</div> + + +<p class="ph3"> +LITTLE BLUE BOOK NO. 833</p> +<p class="ph4">Edited by E. Haldeman-Julius +</p> + + +<h1>Life Among +the Ants</h1> + +<p class="ph3">Vance Randolph</p> + +<p class="ph4">Drawings by Peter Quinn</p> + + +<p class="ph3">HALDEMAN-JULIUS COMPANY +GIRARD, KANSAS</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<p class="ph4">Copyright, 1925,<br> +Haldeman-Julius Company</p> + + +<p class="ph4">PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS"> + CONTENTS + </h2> +</div> + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdc">Chapter</td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr">Page</td> + +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr">1.</td> +<td class="tdl">Books About Ants</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_4">4</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr">2.</td> +<td class="tdl">The Ant’s Body</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_5">5</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr">3.</td> +<td class="tdl">Reproduction and Metamorphosis</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_12">12</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr">4.</td> +<td class="tdl">The Harvesting Ants</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_20">20</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr">5.</td> +<td class="tdl">The Mushroom Growers</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_25">25</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr">6.</td> +<td class="tdl">The Honey Ants</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr">7.</td> +<td class="tdl">The Legionary Ants</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_36">36</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr">8.</td> +<td class="tdl">The Red Slave Makers</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_46">46</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr">9.</td> +<td class="tdl">The Amazons and Their Slaves</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_51">51</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr"></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"></td> +<td class="tdr">10.</td> +<td class="tdl"> Dairies and Guests</td> +<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_54">54</a></td> + +</tr> +</table> + + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</span></p> + + + <p class="ph2"> + LIFE AMONG THE ANTS + </p> + + + +<hr class="r5"> + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I"> + CHAPTER I + <br> + BOOKS ABOUT ANTS + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>There are many references to ants in the +works of the ancients (Aesop, Plutarch, Horace, +Ovid and Pliny), and these were quoted +and elaborated by the mediaeval authors, but +modern scientific investigation may be said +to begin with the nineteenth century. Since +then an enormous amount of work has been +done by European scientists, but their papers +are scattered through the files of obscure scientific +journals in a great variety of continental +languages, and are usually inaccessible +or useless to the American student who wishes +to make a serious (but not <i>too</i> serious) study +of ant life and behavior.</p> + +<p>The first general treatise in English was +doubtless Sir John Lubbock’s famous work entitled +<i>Ants, Bees and Wasps</i>, first published in +1881. This work was for many years a sort +of standard textbook on the subject, and is +still well worth looking into.</p> + +<p>Another book which may be of use is <i>Animal +Intelligence</i>, by George Romanes. The sixth +edition, which appeared in 1895, devotes more +than one hundred pages to the habits of ants.</p> + +<p>Eric Wasmann has written a great number +of books and papers about ants, one of the +best of which has appeared in English as <i>The +Psychology of Ants and of Higher Animals</i>, +published in 1905. All of Wasmann’s works +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</span>are valuable and well worth reading, but they +are marred by his constant references to philosophical +and theological matters which are +of no great interest to the general reader. +Father Wasmann feels called upon to demonstrate +that ants, as regards their psychical +powers, are much nearer to man than are the +anthropoid apes, and is forever interrupting +himself to defend his vitalistic biology and +condemn the theory of organic evolution.</p> + +<p>By all odds the best work available on the +subject is the large volume called <i>Ants</i>, written +by Professor William Morton Wheeler of +Harvard University, and published in 1910. +This book is, in fact, not merely the best but +the only book required by the average student. +There is, of course, a great deal of material +which is uncomprehensible to one who has no +particular technical background, but the whole +thing is so admirably arranged that the student +has only to glance through the table of +contents to locate matter suited to his taste +and training. I have made a very free use of +<i>Ants</i> in the preparation of this booklet, some +sections of which are little more than epitomes +or abstracts of Wheeler’s chapters.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II"> + CHAPTER II + <br> + THE ANT’S BODY + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>The body of the ant, like those of other insects, +is segmented, and covered with a hard +chitinous external skeleton. It is separated +by constrictions into three distinct parts, the +head, which bears the eyes and mouth-parts; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</span>the thorax, to which the wings and legs are +attached; and the abdomen, which contains +most of the entrails and the sexual apparatus.</p> + +<p><i>The Head, Eyes, and Mouth-parts.</i> The head +varies greatly in shape and size, but always +bears a frontal plate or <i>clypeus</i>, just above +which the two jointed <i>antennae</i> or feelers are +attached. The antennae contain a great number +of minute structures which are supposed +to be connected with the sense of smell. Three +small simple eyes or <i>ocelli</i> are set in the top +of the head, and two large <i>compound eyes</i> are +located one on either side. The eyes are always +very well developed in the males, and +somewhat less so in the females; the eyes of +the workers are relatively small, and the +ocelli are sometimes lacking altogether. The +compound eyes are the principal organs of +vision, while the ocelli are supposed to register +only very near objects.</p> + +<p>Just below the clypeus are the mouth-parts, +consisting of the <i>labrum</i> or upper lip, a pair of +powerful <i>mandibles</i>, another pair of jaws called +<i>maxillae</i>, and the <i>labium</i> or lower lip. Both +maxillae and labium bear little <i>palpi</i> or feelers, +and are plentifully supplied with taste-buds +containing the gustatory cells. The tongue or +<i>glossa</i> with which the ant laps up its food is +attached to the upper part of the labium.</p> + +<p><i>The Thorax, Legs and Wings.</i> The ant’s +thorax consists of four segments. The first +segment is known as the <i>prothorax</i>; it is quite +small, and bears the first pair of legs. The +next segment, the <i>mesothorax</i>, carries the second +pair of legs and the front wings—when +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</span>wings are present. The third segment or <i>metathorax</i> +bears the third pair of legs and the +hind wings—if there are any wings. The fourth +segment is really a part of the abdomen, and +is known as the <i>epinotum</i>. On each side of the +thorax are two breathing-holes or <i>stigmata</i>, +which communicate directly with the <i>tracheae</i> +or windpipes which supply air to the interior +tissues.</p> + +<p>The ant has six legs, one pair attached to +each of the three segments of the thorax +proper. Each leg consists of five parts, the +<i>coxa</i>, the <i>trochanter</i>, the <i>femur</i>, the <i>tibia</i>, and +the <i>tarsus</i> or foot. The wings are four in number, +and the venation is similar to that found +in other members of the order Hymenoptera, +but the wings are not much used in classification +because the workers are always wingless, +and the females wear wings only for a part of +their lives.</p> + +<p><i>The Abdomen and Its Appendages.</i> The +ant’s abdomen is divided into two parts, the +slender <i>pedicel</i> which articulates with the last +segment of the thorax, and the larger part of +the abdomen called the <i>gaster</i>. The pedicel +is provided with a file-like structure, which by +rubbing against a non-striated segment produces +a sound of very high pitch. In some +species the females and workers bear stings +and poison glands in the last segment of the +gaster. The female has no ovipositor. In the +male the tip of the gaster usually bears three +pairs of sexual appendages; the two outer pairs +are used in clasping the female during copulation, +and the inner pair, when held tightly +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</span>together, form a tube which functions as a +penis.</p> + +<p><i>The Alimentary Canal.</i> The mouth is located +between the maxillae, and is provided with a +little pouch called the <i>infrabuccal cavity</i>, +which is used to hold solid matter while the +liquid nutriment is being sucked out of it. +When this has been accomplished the pellet +is thrown out. The liquid food passes back +into the <i>pharynx</i>, and then on through +a slender tube called the <i>esophagus</i>, which is +lined with fine hairs. In the gaster the esophagus +expands into the <i>crop</i>, which acts as a +reservoir; no food is absorbed through its +walls, but is often regurgitated to feed the +young. Just back of the crop is the <i>proventriculus</i> +or gizzard, the movements of which provide +the suction by which liquid is drawn up +the esophagus and into the crop, and the force +by which food is regurgitated. The true <i>stomach</i> +is rather small, and it is here that the food is +both digested and absorbed. The <i>small intestine</i> +communicates with the stomach by a +valve, and is connected with a number of <i>Malpighian +tubes</i> which act as kidneys, absorbing +liquid waste from the blood and pouring it +into the intestine. The large intestine or <i>rectum</i> +receives the feces and urine from the +small intestine and expels them from the body +by way of the <i>anal opening</i>.</p> + +<p><i>The Circulatory System.</i> The <i>blood</i> of the +ant, like that of other insects, is colorless, and +contains several kinds of corpuscles. <span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="p09_2" style="max-width: 50.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/p09.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>Fig. I. Diagram showing internal structure. 1, mouth; 2, pharynx; 3, + infrabuccal cavity; 4, aorta; 5, esophagus; 6, heart; 7, crop; 8, small intestine; + 9, stomach; 10, Malpighian tubes; 11, large intestines or rectum; + 12, anal opening.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p> +Its function +is to carry food from the stomach where +it is absorbed to other parts of the body where +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10"></a>[Pg 10]</span>it is needed. The blood of insects has no red +corpuscles, and does not carry oxygen about. +The blood is not confined in definite veins and +arteries as in the higher animals, but percolates +about through the entire body cavity. +There is a simple <i>heart</i> in the dorsal part of +the abdomen which pulsates and forces blood +forward through an <i>aorta</i> into the head, from +which it seeps gradually back into the abdomen, +to be pumped forward through the aorta +again. Thus a sluggish circulation is maintained.</p> + +<p><i>Respiration.</i> Ants have neither lungs nor +gills, and the blood does not carry oxygen into +the cells and carbon dioxide out as in the +higher animals. As in most other insects, air +is taken into the body through breathing-holes +or <i>stigmata</i>, and brought into direct contact +with the tissues. There are ten pairs of these +stigmata in the ant—two pairs in the thorax +and eight in the abdominal segments. Each +opens through a sort of valve into a <i>trachea</i> or +wind-pipe, which branches until its ramifications +extend to all parts of the body. When +certain muscles contract the size of the body +increases, and air is drawn in through the +stigmata; when the size of the body is decreased +the air is forced out. The incoming +air brings in the necessary oxygen, and the +outgoing current is laden with carbon dioxide +waste from the tissues.</p> + +<p><i>The Nervous System.</i> The <i>brain</i> proper is +a mass of nerve matter in the head just above +the esophagus, but the <i>subesophageal ganglion</i> +is very close to it, and the two are connected +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span>by heavy fibers on each side of the esophagus, +so that the whole thing has the appearance of +a brain with the gullet running through the +middle of it. The major part of the upper +brain is connected with the compound eyes, but +there are nerves also which supply the ocelli, +the antennae, the pharynx, the labrum, and +muscles in the head. The subesophageal ganglion +gives off nerves to the mandibles, maxillae +and labium. From the lower back part +of the subesophageal ganglion the <i>ventral nerve +cord</i> arises, and runs through the thorax and +far back into the abdomen. This cord bears +three large <i>thoracic ganglia</i> which innervate +the muscles of the wings and legs. In the +abdomen are eleven smaller <i>abdominal ganglia</i>, +with nerves running out to supply all of the +abdominal organs. The so-called <i>sympathetic +system</i> consists of a few very small ganglia +and nerves not directly connected with the +ventral nerve cord, which function in connection +with the digestive organs.</p> + +<p><i>The Reproductive Organs.</i> The <i>ovaries</i> of +the female or queen ant are located in the +upper and front part of the gaster, and each +is connected by a slender <i>oviduct</i> with the +<i>uterus</i>. The uterus is continuous with the +<i>vagina</i>, the external opening of which is located +near the tip of the abdomen. At the top +of the uterus is a small pouch called the <i>seminal +receptacle</i>, which receives the sperm from +the male in copulation. The spermatozoa live +in this pouch for several years, and meet and +fertilize the eggs as they descend into the +uterus from the ovaries.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span></p> + +<p>The organs of the worker are similar to those +of the queen, except that they are very much +smaller, and are usually incapable of functioning +normally. Worker ants have never been +seen to copulate. The <i>testes</i> of the male ant +are located in the front part of the gaster, and +are connected by the <i>vas deferens</i> with the +<i>seminal vesicles</i>. Tubes from the vesicles unite +to form the <i>ejaculatory duct</i>, which is connected +with the <i>penis</i> at the tip of the abdomen.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III"> + CHAPTER III + <br> + REPRODUCTION AND METAMORPHOSIS + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>Like their relatives the bees and wasps, ants +have developed two types of females, so that +a colony contains three distinct sorts of individuals, +known as males, females, and workers.</p> + +<p><i>The Male.</i> The male is less subject to variation +than either the queen or the worker. +The body is usually slender and graceful, the +eyes and antennae are well developed, and the +mouth parts rather small and weak. In most +species the male is winged. As in the bees, the +one great function of the male in the colony +is to copulate with the female or queen, so as +to supply her with sperm to fertilize future +eggs. The male is not killed in the course of +the sexual embrace, as the drone honeybee is, +but usually dies soon afterward.</p> + +<p><i>The Female.</i> The true female or queen is +usually larger than either the male or the +worker; the head, eyes, and mandibles are well +developed, and the abdomen is very large to +contain the reproductive organs. The female +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span>is usually winged at the time of mating, but +the wings are loosely attached and she loses +them as soon as the nuptial flight is over. The +wings and legs are stouter and shorter than +those of the male, in most cases. In a few +species the females have no wings, and in +others it is the males which are wingless. No +case is known in which neither male nor female +is provided with wings.</p> + +<p><i>The Worker.</i> The worker is an undeveloped, +wingless female. The eyes are small, and the +ocelli are often lacking; the antennae, legs, and +mouth parts are strong and well developed. +There is a great deal of variation among workers; +one common variant is the <i>dinergate</i>, or +soldier—a form with a very large head and +mandibles adapted to fighting. The sex organs +of the worker are unquestionably female, but +they do not ordinarily function, and a worker +has never been seen to copulate.</p> + +<p><i>Mating.</i> In species in which both the male +and female are winged, mating occurs in the +air, as in the nuptial flight of the queen bee. +In the case of the honeybee, however, there is +only one queen to a great number of drones, +while with the ants there may be hundreds of +queens and drones in the air, all copulating at +once. Another difference is that the mated females +do not often return to the parent colony, +as the queen bee always does. When the mating +hour draws near all the ants, even the +nearly blind and wingless workers, rush out of +the nest in great excitement, and the air is soon +full of flying ants. Copulation usually begins +high in the air, but the linked pairs often fall +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span>to the ground together. In the mating of bees +the male is almost always instantly killed, the +genital organs and entrails being torn out of +his body. This mutilation never happens among +ants, but the male’s life-work is ended with the +sexual act, and he usually dies shortly afterward.</p> + +<p><i>The New Colony.</i> As soon as the mated female +is upon solid ground again she tears off +her wings, or removes them by rubbing against +some solid object. This done, condemned to a +crawling, terrestrial existence for the rest of +her days, she sets out alone to establish a new +colony. She digs a hole in the ground, or in +rotten wood, or under a flat stone, seals up the +opening, and sits down in the dark until the +eggs in her abdomen are mature. Sometimes +this takes weeks or even months, and during +this time the queen has nothing to eat, but +lives by absorbing the large wing-muscles +which she will never use again. Finally the +eggs are deposited, being fertilized by some +of the spermatozoa which were obtained from +the male, and which are stored in the spermatheca, +a little pouch just above the uterus. +When the larvae hatch she feeds them with a +secretion from her salivary glands. The resulting +ants are normal workers, except that they +are unusually small. Sometimes it takes nearly +a year to rear this first brood, and all this +time the queen has eaten absolutely nothing. +As soon as the workers are old enough they +dig passages to the open air, and enlarge the +nest by adding galleries and runways. They +drag in food and feed the exhausted female, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span>who from this time forward does nothing but +eat and lay eggs—the brood being cared for +entirely by the workers. From now on the +female is a timid, photophobic, rickety old egg-laying +machine. During her long fast the +great wing-muscles have been absorbed, leaving +the thorax hollow, so that she floats if +placed in water. Only a very few females can +survive the ordeal necessary to found a new +colony—probably only one of many thousands +which undertake it. It is a beautiful example +of the Darwinian phenomena of survival.</p> + +<p>The procedure described above is the usual +one in most species of ants. It was guessed +at by Huber in 1810, but the first man to watch +the actual founding of a new colony was an +American named Lincecum, about 1866. In +1879 Sir John Lubbock observed the whole +process in an artificial nest, and his account +of the process has since been verified by numerous +other investigators.</p> + +<p>In certain species, however, the queen is +unequal to the task of founding a family in +this manner. In this case she must return to +the parent colony, join a queenless colony of +her own or an allied species, or raid a small +colony of aliens. In this latter event she kills +them all, and adopts their eggs and brood.</p> + +<p><i>Complete Metamorphosis.</i> Like the butterflies +and beetles, ants have a complete metamorphosis, +that is, they pass through four +distinct developmental stages. In many other +insects—the grasshoppers for example—the +metamorphosis is said to be incomplete, because +the newly hatched young have the same +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span>general form as the adult, and their development +is merely a matter of increase in bulk.</p> + +<p><i>The Egg.</i> Ant’s eggs are very small, rarely +more than one-fiftieth of an inch in length, and +are very seldom seen by the casual observer, +who mistakes the comparatively large cocoons +for eggs. The egg is usually elongated, and +consists of the germinal spot, the yolk, and the +thin transparent shell called the chorion. The +eggs look very much alike, and one cannot predict +whether a given egg will produce a male, +a worker, or a queen. Some eggs are fertilized +by sperm stored in the female’s spermatheca, +others are deposited without fertilization, +while those laid by workers are certainly not +fertilized, since workers do not copulate. In +bees and certain other related insects it has +been found that unfertilized eggs always produce +males, but whether this is always true +in ants is still an open question.</p> + +<p>Very little is known of the embryological +development of the ant, but the unhatched larva +certainly has traces not only of antennae and +legs, but remnants of certain abdominal appendages +not present in the adult ant, and evidently +harking back to more remote ancestors. +The egg usually hatches about twenty days +after it is laid, but the length of this period +varies greatly with the temperature.</p> + +<p><i>The Larva.</i> The newly hatched larva is a +soft, semi-transparent grub, with a fat body, +slender crooked neck and small head. There +are no eyes, but the mouth-parts are fairly +well developed, and ten pairs of stigmata are +usually present.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp52" id="p17_2" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/p17.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p>Fig. II. Cross-section of an ant-hill, showing + the arrangement of larvae and pupae according to + size. (Adapted from Andre.)</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>The body is covered with +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18"></a>[Pg 18]</span>short fine hairs. The digestive system is well +formed, but there is no connection between +the stomach and the intestine, so that the +larva has no movement of the bowels until it +is about to transform into the next stage. +The accumulated feces in the lower part of the +stomach may often be seen as a black spot +showing through the semi-transparent walls +of the body.</p> + + + +<p>The larva is fed by the workers, the food +being either regurgitated liquid food or pieces +of fresh vegetable or animal matter. It has +been found in the case of the bees that the +kind of food given the larva determines +whether it will develop into a queen or a worker, +but we have no definite information about +this matter among the ants.</p> + +<p>When the larva is fully grown, usually about +a month after hatching, it is buried in the +ground by the workers, and spins a silken +cocoon about itself. All ant larvae have +spinning organs in the head, but some do not +spin cocoons, and in this case are not buried, +but undergo their metamorphosis in the open +chambers of the nest. The larva now voids +its accumulated feces, sheds the larval skin, +and appears as the pupa, the third stage in the +ant’s development.</p> + +<p><i>The Pupa.</i> In the pupal stage the ant has +most of the appendages and organs of the +adult, but they are small and folded close +against the body. The pupa lies quietly, is +not fed, and ordinarily gives no signs of life +at all. Gradually the various parts develop, +the darker color of the adult appears, until +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span>finally the mature pupa has very much the +appearance of the imago. Then the cocoon +is opened by the attendant workers, the young +ant dragged out and fed, and begins its life +as an adult. The pale, newly emerged ant +is known as a <i>callow</i>. The pupal stage usually +lasts from fifteen to twenty days, but is sometimes +much longer in cold weather.</p> + +<p><i>The Adult.</i> The general appearance and +characteristics of the adult are described elsewhere +in this book. The total time of development +from the deposition of the egg to the +appearance of the callow varies from about +sixty days to five months, and is considerably +longer than the corresponding period in most +other insects. The queen bee, for example, +passes through all three stages in about sixteen +days, while some butterflies are developed in +less than twenty-five days. Another interesting +feature is the extreme longevity of the adult +ant. The males are short-lived, but the workers +of many species live for four or five years, +and the queens for still longer periods. Janet +kept one for fully ten years, and Sir John +Lubbock had a queen in his possession from +December, 1874 to August, 1888, “when she +must have been nearly fifteen years old, and, +of course, may have been more,” since he had +no means of knowing her age at the beginning +of her captivity.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV"> + CHAPTER IV + <br> + THE HARVESTING ANTS + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>The works of Pliny and other ancient writers +contain references to ants which collected +great stores of seeds, and these accounts were +quoted by numerous mediaeval authors. Modern +students of ants, however, worked mostly in +northern and central Europe, and as they did +not find any of these harvesting ants they +were rather inclined to dismiss the classic +stories as fiction pure and simple, and class +the seed-gathering ants with the unicorn and +the mermaid.</p> + +<p>In 1829, however, one W. H. Sykes, an Englishman +located in India, reported that certain +ants near his station not only collected great +quantities of grass seed, but after a heavy +rain could always be seen bringing their cereal +out of the underground granaries to dry it in +the sun. These observations went far to vindicate +the ancient naturalists, and the work +of J. T. Moggridge, in 1873, completed the vindication. +Moggridge watched the workers bring +in the seeds, bite off the germinating part to +prevent the seeds from sprouting, and store +them in the nests, which often contain a pint +or so of grain. By examination of these hoards +he identified as many as eighteen different +families of plants represented in a single nest. +Despite the efforts to prevent germination by +biting off the radicles (a fact noted by Pliny +some sixteen hundred years before) many of +the seeds do sprout, and thus the harvesting +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span>ants play a part in the distribution of plants. +Of this subject Moggridge says: “As the ants +often travel some distance from their nest in +search of food, they may certainly be said to +be, in a limited sense, agents in the dispersal +of seeds, for they not infrequently drop seeds +by the way, which they fail to find again, and +often also among the refuse matter which +forms the kitchen hidden in front of their +entrances, a few sound seeds are often present, +and these in many instances grow up and form +a little colony of strange plants. This presence +of seedlings foreign to the wild grounds in +which the nest is usually placed, is quite a +feature where there are old established colonies +of <i>Atta barbara</i>, where young plants of fumitory, +chickweed, cranesbill, Arabis thaleana, +etc., may be seen on or near the rubbish heap.... +One can imagine cases in which the ants +during the lapse of long periods of time might +pass the seeds of plants from colony to colony, +until after a journey of many stages, the +descendants of the ant-borne seedlings might +find themselves transported to places far removed +from the original home of their immediate +ancestors.”</p> + +<p>There are many species of harvester ants in +America; one of the most interesting is <i>Solenopsis +geminata</i>, popularly known as the fire-ant +because of its readiness to use its painful +sting. Although the fire-ant certainly stores +up seeds, often to the extent of damaging crops +of soft fruits like strawberries, it will also +eat insects, or almost anything else that it +can get. The nests are usually found beneath +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span>flat stones, and in some localities are so common +and so populous that Wheeler refers to +the fire-ant as being “in possession of a large +portion of the soil of the American tropics.” +In Louisiana and other southern states these +ants nest along the shores of lagoons and +bayous; when the floods come and the nest is +submerged the workers cling together in a ball +as much as eight inches in diameter, with the +brood in the center. This ball floats in the +water, the ants constantly shifting about so +that very few are drowned, and very little +brood lost, until they are able to effect a +landing.</p> + +<p>The so-called Texas harvester (<i>Pogonomyrmex +molefaciens</i>) has become famous because +a man named Lincecum, about 1862, published +a paper in which he claimed that this ant +actually <i>plants</i> seeds in the ground, weeds and +cultivates its fields all summer, gathers the +crop, dries it in the sun, and finally stores it +away in subterranian granaries. This story +was accepted and promulgated by Charles Darwin, +and so was believed in many quarters. +It seems to rest solely upon the fact that ant-rice +(<i>Aristida</i>) is usually found growing about +the nest, although it may occur nowhere else +in the immediate vicinity. “Four years of nearly +continuous observation,” writes Wheeler, +“enable me to suggest the probable source of +Lincecum’s misconception. If the nests of this +ant can be studied during the cool winter +months—and this is the only time to study +them leisurely, as the cold subdues the fiery +stings of their inhabitants—the seeds, which +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span>the ants have garnered in many of their +chambers will often be found to have sprouted. +Sometimes, in fact, the chambers are literally +stuffed with dense wads of seedling grasses +and other plants. On sunny days the ants may +often be seen removing these seeds when they +have sprouted too far to be fit for food and +carrying them to the refuse heap, which is +always at the periphery of the crater or cleared +earthen disk. Here the seeds, thus rejected as +inedible, often take root and in the spring +form an arc or a complete circle of growing +plants around the nest. Since the <i>Pogonomyrmex</i> +feeds largely, though by no means exclusively, +on grass seeds, and since, moreover, +the seeds of Aristida are a very common and +favorite article of food, it is easy to see why +this grass should predominate in the circle. In +reality however, only a small percentage of the +nests, and only those situated in grassy localities, +present such circles. Now to state that +<i>molefaciens</i>, like a provident farmer, sows this +cereal and guards and weeds it for the sake +of garnering its grain, is as absurd as to say +that the family cook is planting and maintaining +an orchard when some of the peach +stones, which she has carelessly thrown into +the backyard with the other kitchen refuse, +chance to grow into peach trees.”</p> + +<p>Wheeler has also observed the mating flight +of the Texas harvester, and his graphic description +is worth setting down in its entirety: +“During three successive years (1901-1903) +at Austin, Texas, the nuptial flight of +<i>molefaciens</i> took place on one of the last days +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span>of June (28 and 29) or the first in July. +On one of these occasions (July 4, 1903) the +flight was of exceptional magnitude and +beauty. A few days previous the country had +been deluged with heavy rains, but Independence +Day was clear and sunny, the mesquite +trees were in full bloom and the air resounded +with the hum of insects. For several days I +had seen a few males and winged females +stealthily creep out of the nest entrance as if +for an airing, but hurry back at the slightest +alarm. From 1:30 to 3 o’clock, however, on +the afternoon of July 4, all the numerous +colonies I could visit during a long walk west +of the town, gave forth their males and females +as by a common impulse. The number issuing +from a single large nest was often sufficient to +have filled a half liter measure. Soon every +mound and disk was covered with the bright +red females and darker males, intermingled +with workers, many of whom kept on bringing +seeds and dead insects into the nest as unconcernedly +as if nothing unusual were happening. +The males and females, quivering with +excitement, mounted the stones or pebbles of +the nest or hurriedly climbed onto the surrounding +leaves and grass and rocked to and +fro in the breeze. Then, raising themselves on +their feet and spreading their opalescent wings, +they mounted obliquely one by one into the air. +I could follow them only for a distance of ten +or twenty meters when their rapidly diminishing +bodies melted away against the brilliant +cloudless sky. Many pairs, hesitating to take +flight, chased one another about on the surface +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span>of the nest. The amorous males seized +many of the females before they could leave +the ground. Lizards crept forth in great numbers +and gulped down quantities of the fat +females, while others were borne off into the +air by large robber flies (<i>Asilidae</i>). By a little +after three o’clock the males and females +had left the nest and only the workers were +seen pursuing the quiet routine business of +bringing in seeds.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V"> + CHAPTER V + <br> + THE MUSHROOM GROWERS + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>In tropical and subtropical America there +are about one hundred species and varieties +of ants which have most extraordinary habits, +and are grouped together in the Myrmicine +tribe <i>Attii</i>. These ants are usually rather +small and dull colored, and, while they are +powerful and industrious diggers, are not given +to rapid movements as most ants are, but +walk slowly and sedately about. When picked +up they do not struggle as many other ants do, +but feign death after the manner of certain +well known beetles.</p> + +<p>It was long noted that the <i>Attii</i> carried +great quantities of leaves into their nests, and +there was considerable doubt as to the use to +which these were put, some observers believing +that they were used immediately as food, +and others contending that they served as roofing +and carpets in the underground passageways. +Belt, a naturalist who lived in Nicaragua, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span>was probably the first to discover the +secret of the leaves. Digging into one of the +nests in his garden, he was surprised to find +no great quantity of leaves in any of the passages, +although ants were continually bringing +them in at the entrance. The chambers were +always partly filled with “a speckled, brown, +flocculent, spongy-looking mass of a light and +loosely connected substance.... This mass, +which I have called the ant-food, proved on examination +to be composed of minutely subdivided +pieces of leaves, weathered to a brown +color, and overgrown and lightly connected together +by a minute white fungus that ramified +in every direction throughout it.... +When a nest is disturbed and the masses of +ant-food spread about, the ants are in great +concern to carry away every morsel of it +under shelter again; and sometimes, when I +dug into the nest, I found the next day all the +earth thrown out filled with little pits that +the ants had dug into it to get out the covered +up food.”</p> + +<p>Further investigation brought Belt to the +conclusion that the <i>Attii</i> do not eat leaves at +all, but use them as manure to grow fungus +on; and further, that they feed upon this +fungus, and will eat nothing else. The <i>Attii</i> +are, in Belt’s own phrase, “mushroom growers +and eaters.” While leaves are the chief fertilizer, +other substances are often found suitable +for growing fungus on; flowers are sometimes +used, and some species are particularly +partial to pieces of orange peel. The temperature +and ventilation of the subterranean gardens +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span>are matters of great importance, and there +are many small holes which connect the larger +chambers with the surface. These air-shafts +are plugged and reopened at intervals, and by +this means the temperature and ventilation are +regulated.</p> + +<p>Alfred Moeller was a naturalist who studied +the <i>Attii</i> in Brazil, and published the results +of his labors in 1893. He found that the gardens +contain only one kind of fungus, all alien +spores being carefully weeded out. The ants +do not allow the fruits to develop, and this +has made the classification of the fungi a very +difficult matter. The fungi found in the <i>Attii</i> +nests are different from any others known, +but no one can tell whether they are really +distinct species or merely modified forms of +certain common moulds or mushrooms.</p> + +<p>Von Ihering, in 1898, discovered that the +virgin queen, when leaving the nest on her +nuptial flight, always carries a little pellet of +fungus in her mouth. After being fertilized +by the male the queen shuts herself up in a little +burrow and sets about the founding of a +new colony. There are in this case no leaves +available, and she starts the fungus growing +upon some of her new-laid eggs, which she +crushes for the purpose, and which seem to +work quite as well as the usual vegetable +fertilizer.</p> + +<p>J. Huber, in 1905, studied the same problems +which interested Von Ihering, and concluded +that the fungus is not grown upon +crushed eggs, but is nourished by the liquid +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span>excrement of the queen. He describes his +observations as follows: “After watching the +ant for hours she will be seen suddenly to +tear a little piece of the fungus from the garden +with her mandibles and hold it against +the tip of her abdomen, which is bent forward +for this purpose. At the same time she +emits from her vent a clear yellowish or brownish +droplet which is at once absorbed by the +tuft of hyphae. Hereupon the tuft is again +inserted, amid much feeling about with the +antennae, in the garden, but usually not in the +same spot from which it was taken, and is +then patted into place by means of the fore +feet.... According to my observations, this +performance is repeated usually once or twice +an hour, and sometimes, to be sure, even more +frequently.” Although, according to Huber, +the eggs are not used directly as fertilizer for +the fungus, the same result is brought about +indirectly, as the female is accustomed to feed +upon her own new-laid eggs. Huber estimates +that nine out of every ten eggs laid are eaten +at once by the mother. The young larvae, too, +are fed with eggs thrust directly into their +mouths by the queen. When the adult workers +appear, however, they live exclusively on the +fungus which has been growing during their +larval life, and feed the queen upon fungus +also, while continuing to supply the larvae +with their mother’s eggs. After a week or so +the workers dig their way out of the chamber, +bring in leaf-manure for the garden, and the +fungus is no longer cared for by the queen, +who now gives all her attention to the serious +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span>business of egg-laying. As the fungus becomes +more abundant under this cultivation +it is fed to the larvae also, and eggs are no +longer used as food by any of the individuals +in the hive.</p> + +<p>The extraordinary habits of the Attine ants +have fascinated many students, and a number +of theories about their development have been +advanced. Forel suggested that the ancestors +of the present mushroom-growers must have +lived in rotten wood, and fed upon the fungus +which grew upon the moist walls of their nests, +or upon insect excrement. Von Ihering thinks +that they may have developed from the harvesting +ants, which gradually acquired such an +appetite for the fungus which happened to +grow in their granaries that the original stores +came to be used only as fertilizer. Wheeler +points out that, besides the Attine ants, there +are several kinds of beetles and termites which +cultivate fungus upon their own excrement, and +suggests that originally this was the method +employed by the ants. Later on they came to +use the excrement of other insects, and finally +passed to the addition of leaves and other non-fecal +vegetable matter.</p> + +<p>As has been said above, the <i>Attii</i> are primarily +tropical and subtropical insects, but a +few species have come north into the United +States. They are found chiefly in peninsular +Florida, in southern Texas, and in Arizona, although +one species has been reported as far +north as southern New Jersey.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI"> + CHAPTER VI + <br> + THE HONEY ANTS + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>Many species of ants are in the habit of +collecting nectar from flowers, and the sweet +juices excreted by plant-lice, until the crop is +greatly swollen. When they arrive at the nest, +however, the sweets are soon regurgitated and +fed to the larvae. Any worker ant is able to +expand its crop to a certain extent, but in +some species this power is developed to an +enormous degree. In still other tribes this +peculiar capacity seems to be limited to certain +individuals. In the true honey ants only +a comparatively small number of workers are +capable of this honey-carrying, and these individuals +are known as honey-bearing or <i>repletes</i>. +The repletes never accompany the +other workers on their foraging expeditions, +but remain always in the nest, and are used +as living bottles in which to store the nectar +brought in from the fields.</p> + +<p>In some North American species of <i>Myrmecocystus</i> +the abdomen is distended to such an +extent that the repletes are unable to move +about without serious danger of bursting open, +and spend their lives hanging in clusters from +the ceilings of certain chambers in the nest. +These honey ants are found in desert regions +from central Mexico as far north as Denver, +Colorado, and have since ancient times been +highly prized as sweetmeats by the aborigenes +of this region.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp47" id="p31_2" style="max-width: 50.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/p31.jpg" alt=""> +<figcaption> + <p>Fig. III. Repletes of a common honey-ant. + (From a drawing by Wheeler.)</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Honey ants were described in +Mexican publications as long ago as 1832, but +the first important study was made by McCook, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32"></a>[Pg 32]</span>whose investigations were carried out in +the so-called Garden of the Gods, near Manitou, +Colorado, about 1882. He found several very +large nests, covering an area of more than six +feet in diameter, and extending three feet below +the surface of the ground. One of these +nests contained some three hundred replete +honey-vessels hanging by their claws from the +ceiling, and so distended with honey that, +once fallen from their positions, they were +quite unable to get back up again. McCook +saw the ordinary workers bringing in great +quantities of nectar and honeydew, which was +immediately regurgitated and fed to the repletes +or <i>rotunds</i>, as he called them, and thus +stored up in a living reservoir until needed.</p> + +<p>It was formerly supposed that the sweet +liquid was kept in the stomach of the replete, +but Forel, in 1880, showed that it is in reality +the enormously distended crop which functions. +McCook made careful dissections which bore +out Forel’s views, and demonstrated that the +replete has all the abdominal organs of the +ordinary worker, although these are flattened +against the body wall and rendered inconspicuous +by the distension of the crop.</p> + +<p>McCook rejected the view that the replete +belongs to a separate caste, saying that “a +comparison of the workers with the honey-bearer +shows that there is absolutely no difference +between them except in the distended +condition of the abdomen....<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp53" id="p33_2" style="max-width: 40.625em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/p33.jpg" alt=""> +<figcaption> + <p>Fig. IV. Repletes of a honey-ant (<i>Myrmecocystus + hortideorum</i>) hanging from the roof of a honey + chamber. (After McCook.)</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>The process by +which the rotundity of the honey-bearer has +probably been produced, has its exact counterpart +in the ordinary distension of the crop in +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34"></a>[Pg 34]</span>overfed ants; the condition of the alimentary +canal, in all the castes, is the same, differing +only in degree, and therefore the probability is +very great that <i>the honey-bearer is simply a +worker with an overgrown abdomen</i>.... Thus +workers are transformed by the gradual distension +of the crop and expansion of the abdomen +into honey-bearers, and the latter do not +compose a distinct caste.”</p> + + + +<p>Just why these repletes should be developed +in some species and not in others is a mooted +question. The fact that they are found only +in desert regions in North America, Australia, +and South Africa may mean that a dry climate +is one of the important conditions of the phenomena. +Forel said: “The extraordinary distension +of the crop seems to be frequent in the +Australian species of the general Melophorus, +Gamponotus and Leptomyrmex. I suppose that +this is due to the extremely dry climate of the +country, which must compel the ants to remain, +often for long periods, in their subterranean +abodes. At such times a store of provisions +in living bags must be very useful to them.” +Wheeler, in commenting on the above statement +by Forel, writes: “There can be little doubt +of the truth of this statement, but I believe +that it should be expressed in a different manner. +The impulse to develop repletes is probably +due to the brief and temporary abundance +of liquid food (honeydew, gall secretions, etc.) +in arid regions and the long period during +which not only these substances, but also insect +food are unobtainable. The honey is stored +in the living reservoirs for the purpose of tiding +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span>over such periods of scarcity, and the +ants remain in their nests because they do not +need to forage. Hence the confinement mentioned +by Forel is not the immediate but +one of the ulterior effects of drought. I am +convinced from my observations on desert ants +that no amount of drought will keep these +insects in their nest when they are in need +of food.</p> + +<p>“While excavating the nests of <i>M. hortideorum</i> +I was impressed with certain peculiarities +in their structure and situation, which +seem to be explainable only as adaptations to +the development of repletes. One of these +peculiarities is the great hardness of the soil +that is preferred by the ants. This is the +more astonishing because the workers are very +slender and delicate organisms. It is evident +that such soil is well adapted to the construction +of vaulted chambers like those in +which the repletes hang, whereas soft or friable +soil would be most unsuitable. The development +of repletes also makes it necessary for +the ants to seek very dry situations for their +nests. Hence we always find them, in the +environs of Manitou at least, on the summits +of ridges which shed the rain very rapidly. +The honey chambers must be kept dry, both to +prevent the disastrous results of crumbling and +slipping walls and to obviate the growth of +mould on the repletes, which are, of course, +imprisoned for life in dark cavities and filled +with substances that are favorable to the development +of fungi. I believe also that the +size of the nest openings and galleries, which +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span>are so much larger than would seem to be required +by such small, slender ants, may be an +adaptation to securing plenty of fresh air +in the honey chambers. If these suppositions +are correct, there is obviously a reciprocal relation +between the replete habit and an arid +environment: the ants store honey because +they are living in an arid region where moisture +and food are precious, and the storing of +honey in replete workers, in turn, is possible +only in very dry soil.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII"> + CHAPTER VII + <br> + THE LEGIONARY ANTS + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>These insects, which Wheeler describes as +“the Huns and Tartars of the insect world,” +are found in tropical Africa and Asia, and in +the warmer parts of America. There is a +great variation in size and appearance between +the different castes, the females and workers +being blind and wingless, while the males have +well developed wings and large compound eyes. +Some of these ants have no fixed habitation, +but wander from place to place, traveling mostly +at night, and camping during the day in any +shallow hole that affords a temporary shelter. +They cannot endure the direct rays of the +sun, and Savage, in 1845, observed that “if +they should be detained abroad till late in +the morning of a sunny day by the quantity of +their prey, they will construct arches over +their path, of dirt agglutinated by a fluid excreted +from the mouth,” except when they can +remain concealed by thick grass or leaves. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</span>Sometimes the soldier ants form a sort of network +arch with their own bodies, and Savage +says that “whenever an alarm is given the +arch is instantly broken, and the ants, joining +others of the same class on the outside of the +line, who seem to be acting as commanders, +guards and scouts, run about in a furious manner +in pursuit of the enemy. If the alarm +should prove without foundation, the victory +won or the danger passed, the arch is quickly +renewed, and the main column marches forward +as before in all the order of a military +discipline.”</p> + +<p>In these marches the ants carry their eggs, +larvae and pupae with them, these being borne +in the mandibles of the <i>minima</i> or small workers, +and the whole column lives by foraging. +Savage’s description of their predatory habits +is well worth quoting here: “They will soon +kill the largest animal if confined. They attack +lizards, guanas, snakes, etc., with complete +success. We have lost several animals +by them—monkeys, pigs, fowl, etc. The +severity of their bite is increased to great +intensity by vast numbers, to a degree impossible +to conceive. We may easily believe +that it would prove fatal to any animal in +confinement. They have been known to destroy +the <i>Python natalensis</i>, our largest serpent. +When gorged with prey it lies motionless for +days; then, monster as it is, it easily becomes +their victim.... Their entrance into a house +is soon known by the simultaneous and universal +movement of rats, mice, lizards, Blapsidae, +Blattidae, and of the numerous other +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span>vermin that infest our dwellings. Not being +agreed, they cannot dwell together, which modifies +in a good measure the severity of the +driver’s habits, and renders their visits sometimes +(though very seldom in my view) desirable. +Their ascent into our beds we sometimes +prevent by placing the feet of the bedsteads +into a basin of vinegar, or some other uncongenial +fluid; this will generally be successful +if the rooms are ceiled, or the floors overhead +tight; otherwise they will drop down upon us, +bringing along with them their noxious prey in +the very act of contending for victory. They +move over the house with a good degree of +order, ransacking one point after another, till, +either having found something desirable, they +collect upon it, when they may be destroyed <i>en +masse</i> by hot water; or, disappointed, they +abandon the premises as a barren spot, and +seek some other more promising locality for +exploration. When they are fairly in we give +up the house, and try to await with patience +their pleasure, thankful, indeed, if permitted to +remain within the narrow limits of our beds +or chairs. They are decidedly carnivorous in +their propensities. Fresh meat of all kinds is +their favorite food; fresh oils also they love, +especially that of <i>Elais guiniensis</i>, either in +the fruit or expressed. Under my observation +they pass by milk, sugar and pastry of all +kinds, also salt meat; the latter, when boiled, +they have eaten, but not with the zest of fresh. +It is an incorrect statement, often made, that +<i>they devour everything eatable</i> by us in our +houses; there are many articles which form an +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span>exception. If a heap of rubbish comes within +their route, they invariably explore it, when +larvae and insects of all orders are borne off +in triumph—especially the former.”</p> + +<p>Sometimes, instead of camping in shelters on +the ground, these ants climb up into a tree +and hang together in a cluster like a swarm of +bees. Savage reports a colony suspended from +a low tree: “From the lower limbs (four feet +high) were festoons or lines of the size of a +man’s thumb, reaching to the plants and +ground below, consisting entirely of these insects; +others were ascending and descending +upon them, thus holding free and ready communication +with the lower and upper portions +of this dense mass. One of these festoons I +saw in the act of formation; it was a good +way advanced when first observed: ant after +ant coming down from above, extending their +long limbs and opening wide their jaws, +gradually lengthened out the living chain till +it touched the broad leaf of a <i>Canna coccinea</i> +below. It now swung to and fro in the +wind, the terminal ant meanwhile endeavoring +to attach it by his jaws and legs to the leaf; +not succeeding, another ant of the same class +(the very largest) was seen to ascend the +plant, and, fixing his hind legs with the apex +of the abdomen firmly to the leaf under the +vibrating column, then reaching with his fore-legs +and opening wide his jaws, closed in +with his companion above, and thus completed +the most curious ladder in the world.”</p> + +<p>Similar chains are used in bridging little +rills or even small brooks, but when a real +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span>flood occurs a different procedure is adopted. +In this case they cling together so as to form +a large ball, with the eggs and young in the +center, and float away upon the water until +a safe landing can be effected.</p> + +<p>There are several kinds of legionary and +driver ants in America; some species have been +found as far north as Texas and even Colorado, +but most of them are confined to the +tropics. These ants usually do not spend all +of their time on the march, but have permanent +nests, from which they sally out at intervals +on foraging expeditions. Belt offers a graphic +description of the sortie of a colony in Brazil: +“One of the smaller species (<i>Eciton praedator</i>) +used occasionally to visit our house, swarm +over floors and walls, searching every cranny, +and driving out the cockroaches and spiders, +many of which were caught, pulled or bitten to +pieces, and carried off.... I saw many large +armies of this, or a closely allied species, in +the forest. My attention was generally first +called to them by the twittering of some small +birds, belonging to several different species, +that followed the ants in the woods. On approaching +to ascertain the cause of the disturbance, +a dense body of the ants, three or +four yards wide, and so numerous as to blacken +the ground, would be seen moving rapidly in +one direction, examining every cranny, and +underneath every fallen leaf. On the flanks, +and in advance of the main body, smaller +columns would be pushed out. These smaller +columns would generally first flush the cockroaches, +grasshoppers and spiders.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span></p> + + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="p41_2" style="max-width: 50.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/p41.jpg" alt=""> +<figcaption> + <p>Fig. V. Legionary ants attacking a snake.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + + +<p>The pursued +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42"></a>[Pg 42]</span>insects would rapidly make off, but many, +in their confusion and terror, would bound +right into the midst of the main body of ants.... +The greatest catch of the ants was, however, +when they got amongst some fallen brushwood. +The cockroaches, spiders and other insects, +instead of running right away, would +ascend the fallen branches and remain there, +whilst the host of ants were occupying all of +the ground below. By and by up would come +some of the ants, following every branch, and +driving their prey before them to the ends of +the small twigs, when nothing remained for +them but to leap, and they would alight in +the very midst of their foes, with the result of +being certainly caught and pulled to pieces. +Many of the spiders would escape by hanging +suspended by a thread of silk from the +branches, safe from the foes that swarmed both +above and below.”</p> + +<p>Some of the Brazilian species are more nomadic +in their habits. Belt says: “I think +<i>Eciton hamata</i> does not stay more than four +or five days in one place. I have sometimes +come across the migratory columns. They may +easily be known by all the common workers +moving in one direction, many of them carrying +the larvae and pupae carefully in their +jaws. Here and there one of the light-colored +officers moves backwards and forwards directing +the columns. Such a column is of +enormous length, and contains many thousands, +if not millions, of individuals. I have sometimes +followed them up for two or three hundred +yards without getting to the end.... +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span>They make their temporary habitation in hollow +trees, and sometimes underneath large fallen +trunks that offer suitable hollows. A nest +I came across in the latter situation was open +at one side, and the ants were clustered together +in a dense mass, like a great swarm of +bees, hanging from the roof but reaching to +the ground below. Their innumerable long legs +looked like brown threads binding together the +mass, which must have been at least a cubic +yard in bulk, and contained hundreds of thousands +of individuals, although many columns +were outside, some bringing in the pupae of +ants, others the legs and dissected bodies of +insects. I was surprised to see in this living +nest tubular passages leading down into the +center of the mass, kept open just as if it had +been formed of inorganic material. Down +these holes the ants who were bringing the +booty passed with their prey. I thrust a long +stick down to the center of the cluster and +brought out clinging to it many ants holding +larvae and pupae, which were probably kept +warm by the crowding together of the ants. +Besides the common dark-colored workers and +light-colored officers, I saw there many still +larger individuals with enormous jaws. These +they go about holding wide open in a threatening +manner, and I found, contrary to my expectation, +that they could give a severe bite with +them, and that it was difficult to withdraw the +jaws from the skin.”</p> + +<p>Sumichrast, who studied some of the Mexican +legionaries in 1863, noted many seemingly +aimless migrations, “which they undertake at +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span>undetermined epochs, but in relation, it appears +to me, with the atmospheric changes. What +traveler, passing over the <i>tierra caliente</i>, has +not encountered the phalanxes of <i>tepeguas</i> +upon the paths of the primitive forests? What +inhabitant of these countries has not, at least +once, been unpleasantly torn from the arms +of sleep by the invasion of his domicile by a +black army of <i>soldados</i>?... Besides the +changes of domicile which are so generally in +relation with the atmospheric variation as to +serve as a rule to the inhabitants of the country, +the <i>Eciton</i> devotes itself every season to +excursions for pillage, destined to supply the +larvae with nourishment. Nothing is more +curious than these <i>battues</i> executed by an +entire population. Over an extent of many +square meters, the soil literally disappears +under the agglomeration of their little black +bodies. No apparent order reigns in the mass +of the army, but behind this many lines or +columns of laggards press on to rejoin it. The +insects concealed under the dry leaves and the +trunks of fallen trees fly on all sides before +this phalanx of pitiless hunters, but, blinded by +fright, they fall back among their persecutors +and are seized and dispatched in the twinkling +of an eye. Grasshoppers, in spite of the advantage +given them by their power of leaping, +hardly escape more easily. As soon as they are +taken, the <i>Eciton</i> tears off the hinder feet and +all resistance becomes useless.”</p> + +<p>The same author describes with some feeling +their habit of invading houses. “These visits +ordinarily take place at the beginning of the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span>rainy season, and almost always during the +night. The expeditionary army penetrates the +habitation which it proposes to visit at many +points at once, and for this purpose divides +itself into many columns of attack. One is +apprised very soon of their arrival by the +household commotion among the parasitic animals. +The rats, the spiders, the cockroaches, +abandon their retreats and seek to escape +from the attacks of the ants by flight. Alimentary +substances the <i>soldados</i> hold in no esteem, +and they disdain even sugary things, to which +the ants in general are so partial. Dead insects +even do not seem to invite their covetousness. +It has often happened to me to be obliged +to abandon my abode, without having time to +carry away my collection, to which they have +never done the least injury. The trouble +occasioned by these insects in entering houses +is more than compensated by the expeditious +manner in which they purge them of vermin, +and in this view their visit is an actual benefit.”</p> + +<p>As these ants are usually quite blind and +their movements are directed (so far as we +can tell) by the sense of smell and contact +alone, it is quite remarkable that they are +able to move about so readily, and become +familiar with their surroundings in less time +than their seeing relatives. Forel wrote in 1899: +“Throw a handful of <i>Ecitons</i> with their larvae +on a spot with which they are absolutely unacquainted. +In such circumstances other ants +scatter about in disorder and require an hour +or more to assemble and bring their brood together +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span>and especially to become acquainted +with their environment, but the <i>Ecitons</i> do +this at once. In five minutes they have formed +distinct files which no longer disintegrate. +They carry their larvae and pupae, marching +in a straight path, palpating the ground with +their antennae and exploring all the holes and +crevices till they find a suitable retreat and +enter it with surprising order and promptitude. +The workers follow one another as if at a +word of command, and in a very short time all +are in safety.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII"> + CHAPTER VIII + <br> + THE RED SLAVE MAKERS + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>The European ant known as <i>Formica sanguinea</i> +is blood-red in color, and is one of the +most industrious, versatile, and belligerent insects +known to man. This species, according +to Wheeler, “assails any intruder with its +mandibles, simultaneously turning the tip of +its gaster forward and injecting formic acid +into the wound.”</p> + +<p>Although <i>sanguinea</i> is widely known as a +slave-holding species, it is by no means wholly +dependent upon its slaves, but is quite able to +dig its own nest, gather food and rear young +without the aid of any slaves at all. “There +is,” said Wheeler, “nothing to show that the +slaves contribute anything more to the communal +activities than would be contributed by +an equal number of small <i>sanguinea</i> workers.” +Many observers have reported slaveless +colonies of <i>sanguinea</i> which seemed to be +flourishing, and Wasmann found that the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span>youngest colonies contain, as a rule, more +slaves than the older nests. He also reported +an inverse ratio between the number of slaves +and the size of the colony, some of the very +largest being practically slaveless.</p> + +<p>The slave-hunting expeditions of the <i>sanguinea</i> +are said to occur only two or three +times a year, and the general procedure is described +by Wheeler as follows: “The army +of workers usually starts out in the morning +and returns in the afternoon, but this depends +on the distance of the <i>sanguinea</i> nest from the +nest to be plundered. Sometimes the slavemakers +postpone their sorties till three or four +o’clock in the afternoon. On rare occasions +they may pillage two different colonies in succession +before going home. The <i>sanguinea</i> +army leaves its nest in a straggling, open +phalanx sometimes a few meters broad and +often in several companies or detachments. +These move to the nest to be pillaged over the +directest route permitted by the often numerous +obstacles in their path. As the forefront +of the army is not headed by one or a few +workers that might serve as guides, but is +continually changing, some dropping back +while others move forward to take their places, +it is not easy to understand how the whole +body is able to go so directly to the nest of +the slave species, especially when this nest is +situated, as is often the case, at a distance of +fifty or a hundred meters. We must suppose +that the colony has acquired a knowledge of +the precise location of the various nests of +the slave species within an area of a hundred +meters or more of its own nest. This knowledge +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span>is probably acquired by scouts leaving the +nest singly and from time to time for a period +of several weeks, and these scouts must be +sufficiently numerous to determine the movements +of the whole worker body when it leaves +the nest. This presupposes not only a high +development of memory, but some form of communication, +for the nest attacked is usually +one of many lying in different directions from +the <i>sanguinea</i> nest.</p> + +<p>“When the first workers arrive at the nest +to be pillaged, they do not enter at once, but +surround it and wait for the other detachments +to arrive. In the meantime the <i>fusca</i> or <i>rufibarbis</i> +scent their approaching foes and either +prepare to defend their nest or seize their +young and try to break through the cordon +of <i>sanguinea</i> and escape. They scramble up +the grass-blades with their larvae and pupae +in their jaws or make off on the ground. The +sanguinary ants, however, intercept them, +snatch away their charges, and begin to pour +into the entrance of the nest. Soon they issue +forth one by one with the remaining larvae +and pupae and start for home. They turn and +kill the workers of the slave-species only when +these offer hostile resistance. The troop of +cocoon-laden <i>sanguinea</i> straggle back to their +nest, while the bereft ants slowly enter their +pillaged formicary and take up the nurture of +the few remaining young or await the appearance +of future broods.</p> + +<p>“Forel is of the opinion that many of the +young brought home by the sanguinea are +eaten, for the number of those which eventually +hatch and become auxiliaries is very small +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span>compared with the number pillaged during +the course of the summer. Wasmann believes, +however, that the forays take place for the +specific purpose of obtaining young to rear. +This seems to be disproved by the fact that +even small <i>sanguinea</i> colonies are quite able +to get along without slaves and by the insignificant +number of these individuals in many +nests. Darwin has interpreted the surviving +and adopted workers as a kind of by-product, +or as representing food which the ants failed +to eat at the proper time, and such they would +appear to be in the adult colony, though, as +we shall see, they have an additional significance +as the result of an instinct inherited by +the <i>sanguinea</i> workers from their queen. That +the foray is, to some extent at least, due to +the promptings of hunger, seems to be shown +by the fact that <i>sanguinea</i> sometimes plunders +the nests of ants which it could not adopt as +slaves.”</p> + +<p>Wasmann describes the military expeditions +of the so-called sanguine slavemakers (<i>F. sanguinea</i>), +which generally hunt in companies of +from twenty to fifty workers, “with the purpose +not only of stealing the neuter pupae of +the slave species, but often also of pillaging +the nests of smaller ants belonging to the genus +<i>Lasius</i>, the larvae, pupae and winged individuals +of which are carried off to be devoured. +During the time of the nuptial flight of <i>Lasius +niger</i>, many <i>sanguinea</i> colonies are hunting in +the vicinity of their nest for the heavy <i>Lasius</i> +females which drop to the ground. Then either +singly or with united forces these robbers pull +their victims into their strongholds, where +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span>they are mercilessly slaughtered. On the afternoon +of August 24, 1888, I witnessed such a +typical hunting expedition of several <i>sanguinea</i> +colonies near Exaten, Holland, on the outskirts +of a fir plantation. The road passing the nests +was covered far and wide with <i>sanguineas</i> +rushing upon every <i>Lasius</i> female that dropped +from the air, as upon a welcome booty. Within +the space of an hour I counted more than +one hundred females of <i>Lasius niger</i> that fell +victims to the hunters.”</p> + +<p>There are several species and sub-species +of <i>sanguinea</i> in the United States, and the +habits of these differ in several particulars +from those of their European relatives. Wheeler +reports that although he has found plenty of +slaveless colonies, most nests contain slaves +in much greater number than do similar +colonies in Europe. He thinks this due in part +to the fact that the American species make +more frequent raids, and partly also because +the species chosen as slaves are “much more +cowardly and docile” than the victims of the +slave-hunters of the Old World. The actual +tactics employed in the raids do not differ essentially +from those of the European species.</p> + +<p>It was long supposed that new colonies of the +<i>sanguinea</i> were founded in this wise: When +the queen descends from her nuptial flight +she either brings up a brood of her own like +many common ants, or she is adopted into a +nest of one of the slave species. On either +of these suppositions it is difficult to explain +how the slave-making instincts could be transmitted +to the workers, because the latter have +no offspring and the queen was supposed to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span>lack the slaving instincts. In 1906, Wheeler +cleared the matter up by introducing a <i>sanguinea</i> +queen into a nest containing workers, +larvae, and cocoons of one of the slave species. +She was immediately attacked, but beat off +her assailants, killed a number of them, and +captured a large number of cocoons, which +she carried into a separate chamber and defended +against all comers. Here she waited +until the workers emerged from the captured +cocoons; these workers, of course, attached +themselves to her and soon gained possession +of the whole nest. This experiment shows +clearly that the <i>sanguinea</i> queen really possesses +all the slave-making tendencies exhibited +by the workers in their raiding, and solves +the problem of the inheritance of these instincts.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX"> + CHAPTER IX + <br> + THE AMAZONS AND THEIR SLAVES + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>Another type of slave-owning ants is represented +by the genus <i>Polyergus</i>, found in both +Europe and North America, and known as +amazons. Slavery among the amazons is a +very different thing from the casual master-servant +relationship found in the various species +of sanguinary ants. The <i>sanguinea</i> are +quite able to build nests, gather food, and rear +their young unaided by slave labor, and slaveless +colonies are not at all uncommon, but the +amazons are absolutely dependent upon their +slaves, and no amazon colony could exist without +them. As Wheeler says, the amazons “are +even incapable of obtaining their own food, although +they may lap up water or liquid food +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span>when this happens to come in contact with +their short tongues. For the essentials of food, +lodging and education they are wholly dependent +on the slaves hatched from worker cocoons +that they have pillaged from alien colonies. +Apart from these slaves they are quite unable +to live, and hence are always found in mixed +colonies inhabiting nests whose architecture +throughout is that of the slave species. Thus +the amazons display two contrasting sets of +instincts. While in the home they sit about +in stolid idleness or pass the long hours begging +the slaves for food or cleaning themselves +and burnishing their ruddy armor, but when +outside the nest on one of their predatory expeditions +they display a dazzling courage and +capacity for concerted action compared with +which the raids of <i>sanguinea</i> resemble the +clumsy efforts of a lot of untrained militia. +The amazons may, therefore, be said to represent +a more specialized and perfected stage of +<i>dulosis</i> than that of the sanguinary ants. In +attaining to this stage, however, they have become +irrevocably dependent and parasitic.”</p> + +<p>The same author describes a slave-hunting +foray of the European species. “The ants leave +the nest very suddenly and assemble about the +entrance if they are not, as sometimes happens, +pulled back and restrained by their slaves. +Then they move out in a compact column with +feverish haste, sometimes, according to Forel, +at the rate of a meter in 33 seconds, or 3 cm. +per second. On reaching the nest to be pillaged, +they do not hesitate like <i>sanguinea</i> but +pour into it at once in a body, seize the brood, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span>rush out again and make for home. When attacked +by the slave species they pierce the +heads or thoraces of their opponents and often +kill them in considerable numbers. The return +to the nest with the booty is usually made more +leisurely and in less serried ranks. The observer +of one of these forays cannot fail to +be impressed with the marvelous precision of +its execution. Although the ants may occasionally +lose their way and have to retrace +their steps or start off in a different direction, +they usually make straight for the nest to be +plundered. They must, therefore, like <i>sanguinea</i>, +possess a keen sense and memory of +locality. There can be little doubt that they +often leave the nest singly and make a careful +reconnoissance of the slave colonies in the +vicinity.”</p> + +<p>One can hardly believe that as soon as the +fighting is over these warriors relapse into +their accustomed lethargy, and are fed and +cared for by their slaves, who often prevent +them from leaving the nest, and sometimes, +when they have wandered away, pick them up +bodily and carry them home by main strength. +When a colony moves to a new home the whole +enterprise is left to the slaves, who choose and +prepare the new nesting site, and carry the +warriors to it. In the case of the <i>sanguinea</i> +it will be remembered that it is the masters +who carry the slaves on these occasions.</p> + +<p>An American amazon which has been the +subject of considerable study is <i>Polyergus +breviceps</i>, found in the mountainous regions of +Colorado and New Mexico. This species is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span>very striking in appearance, the worker and +queen being of a rich purplish-red color, while +the male is jet-black with white wings. A +peculiar feature of the <i>breviceps’</i> raiding +parties is that there are no casualties on +either side. The slave species offer no real +resistance, and the amazons simply put them +gently to one side, take their larvae and pupae, +and go their way.</p> + +<p>We do not know exactly how new amazon +colonies are established. Forel, Wasmann and +Viehmeyer have agreed that the queen lacks +the domestic instinct, and therefore the new +colony must be founded by the slave species, +which cares for the amazon females. It has +been shown that the adoption occurs readily +enough in artificial nests. Some experiments +by Wheeler gave rather conflicting results, and +he closes his discussion of the matter by saying: +“It will be necessary, therefore, to study +this question further before making definite +statements in regard to the method employed +by our American amazons in establishing +colonies.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X"> + CHAPTER X + <br> + DAIRIES AND GUESTS + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>The peculiar symbiotic relations between +ants and aphids is worth a brief description. +The aphids or plant-lice live in colonies upon +certain plants, and feed upon juices which they +suck from the foliage. The liquid excrement +of these insects is sweet, and a surprisingly +large amount is voided—Bŭsgen found that the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</span>maple aphid produces as many as forty-eight +drops in twenty-four hours. This substance is +sometimes so abundant that it covers the leaves +and even drips down to the ground; it is known +as honeydew, and some rustics still believe +that it somehow falls from heaven. The ants +are very fond of this honeydew, and some +species live upon it almost exclusively at certain +seasons, and locate their nests always near +good aphid-pastures. The ants never kill and +eat aphids as they do other insects, but protect +them against their enemies. They even carry +them about from one pasture to another, and +some species build little sheds and corrals in +which their aphids are confined just as we confine +cattle. Sometimes the ants simply lap +up the honeydew as it falls upon the leaves, +but in most cases they <i>milk</i> the aphids by +gently stroking them with the antennae, which +causes the emission of a drop of the sweet +liquid. Some kinds of aphids have developed +a circle of stiff hairs around the anal opening, +which thus retains the honeydew till the ant +comes for it. Not only do the ants care for +and milk the adult aphids, but they rear them +from the eggs. Huber, Lubbock and others +have seen ants collecting aphid eggs in the +Autumn, and it has been found that these eggs +are stored in the nest until they hatch, when +the young plant-lice are carried out and placed +on a suitable food-plant. On cold or rainy days +they are taken back into the nest; when the +weather moderates the ants carry them out +to pasture again.</p> + +<p>The scale-insects and mealy-bugs (<i>Coccidae</i>) +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</span>also produce honeydew, and are visited by the +ants precisely as the aphids are. The <i>manna</i> +of the Biblical story, according to Wheeler, “is +now known to be the honeydew of one of these +insects (<i>Gossyparia mannifera</i>) which lives on +the tamarisk. This excretion is still called <i>man</i> +by the Arabs who use it as food.” Forel, +Cockerell and Wheeler have seen ants tending +great herds of coccids, and a few of these insects +are found in many nests.</p> + +<p>Several kinds of tree-hoppers bear a similar +relation to ants. Bare, who studied these matters +in Argentina, “watched the larvae of +various species of <i>Centrotus</i> being assiduously +attended by ants. The larvae are gregarious, +frequenting the succulent shoots of plants, and +have an extensile organ at the extremity of the +body, from which the coveted fluid is emitted.” +Wheeler observed whole colonies of ants herding +leaf-hoppers in Colorado, and reports that +these novel milk-cows “responded to the antennal +caresses of the ants in precisely the +same manner as the plant-lice and scale-insects.” +Some ants confine their tree-hoppers in +sheds and shelters similar to those used for +the aphids.</p> + +<p>The relationship of ants to certain small +caterpillars (the larvae of some of the <i>Lycaenid</i> +butterflies) has been known for a long time. +These little caterpillars, when caressed on the +posterior end by the antennae of the ants, give +up a drop of sweet liquid, doubtless very +similar to that produced by the aphids and +coccids.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="p57_2" style="max-width: 50.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/p57.jpg" alt=""> +<figcaption> + Fig. VI. A small myrmecophilous cricket (<i>Myrmecophila nebrascensis</i>) + gnawing at the tibia of the Texan harvester-ant. (After Wheeler.) + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>These larvae are often found in the +ants’ nests, and some of the newly emerged +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58"></a>[Pg 58]</span>butterflies have been seen to come out of the +ant-hills. It is said that the ants protect the +caterpillars from the attacks of hymenopterous +parasites, and De Niceville is authority for the +statement that the butterfly will not lay her +eggs when there are no ants about: “If the +right plant has no ants, or the ants on that +plant are not the right species, the butterfly +will lay no eggs on that plant. Some larvae +will certainly not live without the ants, and +many larvae are extremely uncomfortable when +brought up away from their hosts or masters.”</p> + +<p>Besides the ants’ relationship with the insects +which produce sweet substances, there are +symbiotic relations of a very different type +with a group of insects known as <i>myrmecophiles</i>—ant-guests. +These insects, at one stage +or another, live in the ant-hills. At least fifteen +hundred species of ant-guests are known, and +Escherich estimates that there must be at least +three thousand altogether. Wheeler thinks that +even this estimate is probably too low. At +least a thousand of the known species are +beetles, and most of the rest are insects of +one kind or another, but there are about sixty +arachnids and a few crustaceans.</p> + +<p>Some of the myrmecophiles are not <i>friends +of ants</i> as the name implies, but mere interlopers—scavengers, +robbers and assassins. +There are a number of small beetles which live +in the less frequented galleries of the nest, eat +dead ants and brood, kill ailing or crippled +ants, and even attack healthy adults when they +catch them alone or at some disadvantage. +Some of these beetles resemble ants in general +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</span>appearance, a mimicry which is doubtless of +considerable value to them. The ants kill these +pests whenever they can, but many are protected +by their ability to emit an evil-smelling +substance which puts the ants to flight. Others +will be killed at once if confined in a small +chamber with a few ants, but in a large nest +are able to escape by reason of their agility.</p> + +<p>Another class of myrmecophiles, known as +<i>synoeketes</i>, or tolerated guests, live in the ant-hills +without attracting any great attention, +being treated with contemptuous indifference +by their hosts. The larvae of certain moths +and flies, a large number of beetles, and numerous +other insects are of this class, and feed +largely upon the refuse of the kitchen-middens. +Wasmann has studied a group of beetles which +live with the nomadic Doryline ants. These +camp-followers mimic the legionaries, and +march along in their columns apparently unnoticed, +being allowed to share the prey taken +by the blind warriors. Other beetles live in +the nests of the <i>sanguinea</i>, and feed largely +upon the tiny parasites from the bodies of +their hosts. Certain minute wingless crickets +are very abundant in many nests; they are seen +to lick the bodies of the ants, and it is supposed +that they live upon some cutaneous secretion.</p> + +<p>The insect called <i>Attaphila</i> is a sort of miniature +cockroach, which lives with the fungus +growing <i>Attii</i>, and is, according to Wheeler, the +only insect known to be on intimate terms with +these ants. A peculiar thing about the <i>Attaphila</i> +is that the last joint of the antennae +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</span>is nearly always bitten off. This insect was +formerly supposed to feed on fungus, but has +since been found to lick the surface secretions +from the ants’ bodies. A little beetle called +<i>Oxysoma oberthueri</i> is very like <i>Attaphila</i> in +its habits, “mounting the bodies of its host +and licking or shampooing them with great +eagerness.”</p> + +<p>Very different from the furtive, barely tolerated +myrmecophiles described above are the +three or four hundred species known as true +guests, which, to quote Wheeler again, “are +no longer content to be treated with animosity +or indifference, but have acquired more intimate +and even friendly relations with the +ants. These true guests are not, therefore, to +be found skulking in the unfrequented galleries +of the nest, or suspiciously dodging about +among the ants, but live in their very midst +with an air of calm assurance, if not of +proprietorship.” Among these are many +beetles bearing tufts of hair which produce +some aromatic secretion very pleasing to the +ants. The ants rush to lick the odorous tufts, +are caressed by the peculiar antennae of the +beetle, and feed the latter with regurgitated +food. Many of these beetles are cleaned and +shampooed by the ants, are often carried about, +and favored in other ways, despite the fact +that they sometimes devour the ant brood. +Some of the smaller species are totally blind, +and are permitted to ride about on the ants’ +backs for hours at a time.</p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</span> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp65" id="p61" style="max-width: 50.0em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/p61.jpg" alt=""> +<figcaption> + <p>Fig. VII. Showing two minute myrmecophilous + beetles (<i>Oxysoma oberthueri</i>) feeding on the surface + secretions of an ant. (Adapted from Escherich).</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + + +<p>Another sort of guest is the little mite called +<i>Antennophorus</i>, which Janet has found in the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_62"></a>[Pg 62]</span>nests of several European ants. These mites +attach themselves firmly to the body of their +host, and it is interesting to note that no matter +how many are present on a single ant, they +are always so placed that the weight is properly +distributed, and the host’s progress not interfered +with. These creatures remind one of +the ticks found on higher animals like dogs, +but they are not parasites in the sense that +ticks are—they do not suck the ant’s blood, but +reach out and snatch their nutriment from +the drops of regurgitated food as they pass +from one ant to another.</p> + + + +<p>The ants do not bother <i>Antennophorus</i> much, +but there is another mite called <i>Cillibano</i> which +is a true blood-sucker, and which they seize +and tear to pieces whenever they can. A little +blue fly (<i>Orasema viridis</i>) is common in the +nests of several Texan and Mexican ants; its +larvae attach themselves to the ant larvae and +live as parasites. Both the larvae and the +adult, however, are fed and fondled by the ants.</p> + +<p>Besides these external parasites there are +many grubs and worms which live inside the +body of the ant, and are comparable to the +pin-worms and tapeworms which dwell in the +human intestine. These creatures have not +been studied extensively, however, and very +little is known of their habits and metamorphosis.</p> + + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<div class="tnote"> + <h2 class="nobreak" id="Transcribers_note"> + Transcriber’s note + </h2> + + + +<p>Minor punctuation errors have been changed without notice. Italization was standardized.</p> + +<p>In this version, the illustrations are placed differently on the page than in the original. This was done to + keep them on the same page as the original. The illustration on page <a href="#Page_41">41</a> was +placed upside down in the orignal; it has been corrected here.</p> + +<p>Spelling was retained as in the original except for the following changes:</p> + + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"></td> +<td class="tdl">Page <a href="#Page_7">7</a>: “female during copulalation”</td> +<td class="tdl">“female during copulation”</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"></td> +<td class="tdl">Page <a href="#Page_17">17</a>: “the arangement of larvae”</td> +<td class="tdl">“the arrangement of larvae”</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"></td> +<td class="tdl">Page <a href="#Page_18">18</a>: “the ant’s tevelopment”</td> +<td class="tdl">“the ant’s development”</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"></td> +<td class="tdl">Page <a href="#Page_29">29</a>: “habits of the Attiine”</td> +<td class="tdl">“habits of the Attine”</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"></td> +<td class="tdl">Page <a href="#Page_29">29</a>: “besides the Attiien ants”</td> +<td class="tdl">“besides the Attine ants”</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"></td> +<td class="tdl">Page <a href="#Page_44">44</a>: “itself every reason to”</td> +<td class="tdl">“itself every season to”</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"></td> +<td class="tdl">Page <a href="#Page_50">50</a>: “of several <i>sanquinea</i>”</td> +<td class="tdl">“of several <i>sanguinea</i>”</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"></td> +<td class="tdl">Page <a href="#Page_51">51</a>: “the <i>sanquinea</i> queen”</td> +<td class="tdl">“the <i>sanguinea</i> queen”</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"></td> +<td class="tdl">Page <a href="#Page_55">55</a>: “is known as honey dew”</td> +<td class="tdl">“is known as honeydew”</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"></td> +<td class="tdl">Page <a href="#Page_55">55</a>: “honey dew, and some species”</td> +<td class="tdl">“honeydew, and some species”</td> +</tr> +</table> + +</div> +</div> + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77638 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/77638-h/images/cover.jpg b/77638-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bd6f9d0 --- /dev/null +++ b/77638-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/77638-h/images/p09.jpg b/77638-h/images/p09.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2227958 --- /dev/null +++ b/77638-h/images/p09.jpg diff --git a/77638-h/images/p17.jpg b/77638-h/images/p17.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..115904a --- /dev/null +++ b/77638-h/images/p17.jpg diff --git a/77638-h/images/p31.jpg b/77638-h/images/p31.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..745c8d6 --- /dev/null +++ b/77638-h/images/p31.jpg diff --git a/77638-h/images/p33.jpg b/77638-h/images/p33.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3c8753e --- /dev/null +++ b/77638-h/images/p33.jpg diff --git a/77638-h/images/p41.jpg b/77638-h/images/p41.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3247326 --- /dev/null +++ b/77638-h/images/p41.jpg diff --git a/77638-h/images/p57.jpg b/77638-h/images/p57.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3f01ec0 --- /dev/null +++ b/77638-h/images/p57.jpg diff --git a/77638-h/images/p61.jpg b/77638-h/images/p61.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a6e8f4e --- /dev/null +++ b/77638-h/images/p61.jpg |
