engaged in it; and when a party of the wood-ant (F. rufa) attacks a party of the sanguine ant (F. sanguinea), the manoeuvring reminds us strongly of our own battles. The sanguine ants, in this case, go and await the enemy in little troops at some distance from the nest, advancing in a body without separating, and seize all those of their enemies who venture too far from the camp. "The two parties," says Huber, "place themselves in ambuscade, and suddenly attack each other in turns; but when the sanguine ants perceive that the wood-ants are advancing in force against them, they inform those at the ant-hill, by messengers, of the need in which they stand of their assistance. Immediately a considerable army is despatched from the sanguine city, advances in a body, and surrounds the enemy. have witnessed instances of this kind every day for several weeks, the ant-hills being in the same hedge, but at some distance from each other, and the combats renewed every day."

I

Contiguity, however, is not always the cause or such warfares, for we have seen innumerable instances of colonies of different species, not only in the same hedge, but with their boundary walls almost touching each other, without any appearance of hostility. Nay, we have more than once seen colonies of three different species established under the same stone. In an instance of this kind there were separate colonies of the yellow ant (F. Alava), the negro ant (F. fusca), and the red ant (Myrmica rubra); though the latter is most pugnacious perhaps, and certainly the most virulent of the whole tribe, yet all the three were living in harmony, though the stone which served them as a common covering was not a foot in diameter. Even in this case, however, it was by no means safe for an individual to cross its own boundaries and venture into its neighbour's ter

ritory, and when we forced one to encroach in this way, it always scampered off with the utmost trepidation, as if well aware, without consulting Vattel or Puffendorf, that it had infringed an international law *. It is of importance, as will presently appear, to state that these three colonies were all quite distinct, and none subjected to another in the relation of masters and slaves, as, strange to tell, sometimes occurs in ant communities. The details on this curious subject are well worthy our attention.

ANT EXPEDITIONS TO CAPTURE SLAVES.

THE following history of the mode in which communities of ants obtain labourers is altogether so extraordinary, that, did the evidence rest upon the testimony alone of one observer, we might be disposed to believe that it had originated in some imperfect observation, where the fancy had influenced the judgment of the observer. But when the testimony of the younger Huber is confirmed by such men as Professor Jurine and M. Latreille, we have no room left for scepticism. From our own experience, indeed, we can well believe Huber when he says, "the more the wonders of nature have attractions for me, the less do I feel inclined to alter them by a mixture of the reveries of imagination.” We may premise that the ant named by him the Legionary, or Amazon (F. rufescens), is a large iron-brown coloured species, not hitherto found in Britain.

"On the seventeenth of June, 1804," says Huber, "whilst walking in the environs of Geneva, between four and five in the evening, I observed, close at my feet, traversing the road, a column of legionary ants. They moved with considerable rapidity, and occupied a space of from eight to ten inches in length, by three

* J. R.

or four in breadth. Quitting the road in a few minutes, they passed a thick hedge, and entered a meadow, where I followed them, and observed them winding along the grass without straggling, their column remaining unbroken, in spite of the obstructions in their way. They soon approached a nest inhabited by a colony of the negro-ant (F. fusca), the dome of which rose above the grass, at a distance of twenty feet from the hedge. Some of the negroes were guarding the entrance; but, on the discovery of an approaching army, darted forth upon the advancing legion. The alarm instantly spread into the interior, whence their companions rushed forth in multitudes to defend their homes. The legionaries, the bulk of whose army lay only at the distance of two paces, quickened their march, and when they arrived at the hill, the whole battalion fell furiously upon the negroes, who, after an obstinate, though brief conflict, fled to their subterranean galleries. The legionaries now ascended the dome, collected in crowds on the summit, and taking possession of the principal avenues, left some of their companions to excavate other openings in the exterior walls. They soon effected this, and through the breach the remainder of the army made their entrance; but in about three or four minutes afterwards issued forth again, each carrying off a pupa or a grub, with which booty they retraced their route, in a straggling, irregular march, very different from the close orderly array they had before exhibited."

Our author followed them for some time, but lost sight of them in a field of ripened corn; and on returning to examine the state of the assaulted city, he found a small number of the defeated negroworkers perched on the stalks of plants, holding in their mouth the few grubs they had succeeded in

rescuing from the pillage. Next morning, Huber returned at the same hour with the hope of ascertaining the nature of these proceedings, when he discovered a numerous encampment of the legionaries." These formed," he tells us, “into column, set forth in a body, and fell upon one of the negro hills, which they triumphantly entered after a very feeble opposition, One division immediately returned with the grubs which they had captured, while another party less fortunate came away emptyhanded; but resolved, it would appear, not to go home without booty, they marched in a body upon another negro establishment, where they were abundantly successful. The whole army now forming two divisions, hastened to their own encampment, which I took care to reach a little before them; but what was my surprise to observe all around a great number of that identical species, the negroes, which they had gone forth to attack. I raised up a portion of the building, and upon still perceiving more, I conjectured that it was one of the encampments which had already been pillaged by the legionaries, but I was set right by the arrival at the entrance of the very army I had been watching, laden with the trophies of victory. Its return excited no alarm among the negro-ants, who, so far from offering opposition to the entrance of the triumphant army, I even observed to approach the warriors to caress them, and present them with food, as is the custom among their own species, whilst the legionaries in turn consigned to them their prisoners to be carried into the interior of the nest *."

They do not always complete the pillage at the first, or even the second attack, for this negro colony was successively invaded in the same manner three several times. The third time, however, the invaders *Huber on Ants, p. 254.

had to undertake a siege in regular form, for the negroes, as if conscious of their own weakness, lost no time in throwing up trenches, barricading the several entrances, and reinforcing the guard of the interior, in order to provide for future safety. With the same view, they had brought together all the little pieces of wood and earth within reach, with which they had blocked up the passage to their encampment. Upon discovering these defensive preparations, the legionaries at first hesitated to approach, but rambled about or returned to the rear till sufficiently reinforced; but at length, upon a signal given, they rushed forward in a body with great impetuosity, and began to demolish the barricades with their mandibles and their feet.

When

they had thus made a sufficient breach, they entered into the interior by hundreds, in spite of the resistance of the poor negroes, and carried off their remaining property. "I was witness," says Huber every day during summer to these invasions *.”

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The negro-ants are most commonly the victims of these hostile excursions, probably in consequence of their pacific and docile disposition; but in more than one instance Huber observed successful attacks made upon the more warlike and powerful communities of the mining ant (Formica cunicularia), a British species, though not abundant, and nearly resembling the wood-ant (F. rufa) in colour, though about a fourth less in size. It is interesting to remark, that though the result of a victory is precisely similar to the case already detailed, the legionaries are obliged to employ a different mode of warfare, as we shall see from Huber's narrative.

"Between four and five in the evening," he says, a time when the army usually commences its march, the legionaries were already assembled on * Huber on Ants, p. 263.