Beaufort Republican. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1871-1873, 1873-05-22
An Ants Granary.

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"Itsometimes happens that an ant has
manifestly made bad selection, and is
told on its return that what it has
brought home with much pains is no
better than rubbish, and is hustled out
of the nest, and is forced to throw its
burden away. In order to try whether
these creatures were not fallible like
other mortals, I one day took with me
little packet of gray and white porcelain
beads, and scattered these in the path
of the harvesting train. They had
scarcely lain minute on the earth be-
fore one of the largest workers seized
upon bead, and with some difficulty
clipped it with its mandibles and trot-
ted back at great rate to the nest. I
waited for little while, my attention
being divided between the other ants,
who were vainly endeavoring to remove
the beads, and the entrance down which
the worker had disappeared, and then
left the spot. On my return in an
hours time, I found the ants passing
unconcernedly by and over the beads,
which lay where / had strewn them, in
apparently undiminished quantities |;
and L conclude from this that they had
found out the mistake, and had wisely
returned to their accustomed occupa-
TONS" He adds: "I have often amused
myself by strewing hemp and canary
seed or oats, all of which form. heavy
burdens for the ants, near their nests ;
and it is a curious sight to watch the
eagerness and determination with which
they will drag them away. 1t is inter-
esting also to note how on the following
day the husks of these seeds will ap-
pear on the rubbish-heap, outside the
entrance to the nest.
With this amount'of discrimination,
the ants fight tremendous battles,
colony against colony, in the endeavor
to plunder each others granaries. At
times, these combats last for days, and
terrible mutilations are the result. Two
ants may be noticed csntending for
seed, one of them holding on with the
tenacity of bulldog, even although he
has lost his abdomen in the struggle,
"Then," says Mr.. Mcggridge, "the
victor will be seen dragging away his
prize, while his adversary, though now
little more than head and legs, offers
a vigorous, though, of course, inef-
fectual resistance. On one occasion, a
battle was seen to last thirty-one days.
At the termination of such desperate
engagements, the field is strewn with
the slain, which are carried away and
eaten as part of the spoil.
To expeditions which end in these
murderous conflicts, are added thicvish
raids on seed-stores which happen to be
in the neighborhood. The ant COM
munities are not in the least particular
as to whence they can steal grain, hemp
seed, canary-seed, or any suitable: :nutri-
riment and they have an extraordinary
cleverness in discovering where food is
to be got for the taking. They know
where there are shops in Mentone for
the sale of grain. A fourishing colony
of the Atta structor ingeniously planted
itself at the door of corn-chandler,
and "were ever on the lookout for stray
grains of oats and wheat, which might
chance to fall from the sacks. Another
nest, in different part of the town, got
its principal substance from the grains
of canary-seed, which were scattered by
the birds occupying cage hanging
outside shop-window"
The dimensions of o n ants granary
are described as about the size of q
gentleman's watch. There all sorts OF
plundered seeds are stored for winter
use-or, more correctly, for the seasons
when no seeds are growing for there is
little or no winter in the Riviera, such
as we know by that term. In the mat
ter of storing, however, we have to meet
a difficulty. The granaries being only
a few inches under the surface OF the
ground, how do the ants manage to pre-
vent the seeds from terminating, and
becoming useless for food Ancient
authors account for the phenomenon, by
stating that the ants bore holes through
the grains, 80 as to destroy the vital
principle. What ants may have done
thousands of years ago in Greece and
some eastern countries, we may not dis.
pute but it is plain that the ants OF
the Riviera dismiss the boring system,
and 60 to work in manner which shows
their skillin chemistry. This, perhaps
is the funniest thing told by Mr.. Mog-
gridge. Will it be believed ?-they
actually malt their grain! When the
seeds have duly sprouted, the ants nip
off the radicle or fibril to check the
growth, and then carry out the grain to
be dried in the open air. The seeds
are thus matted. The starch is changed
into sugar, and, so transformed, the
food is eaten with becoming relish. 81
have myself" says our author, "wit.
messed the avidity with which the con-
tents of seeds thus treated would be
devoured by the ants" If the ants in
olden time did not understand the pro-
cess of mailing, the modern ones may
be congratulated on their advancement
in this piece of useful knowledge.
The ceaseless diligence of these ant
communities is testified by the fact that
they have been discovered working in
the dark, carrying seeds to their gran
aries, or searching for aphides from tie
orange-tree, Just as if it were broad