American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1875-07-17
About Ants.


in the Popular Science Monthly for July W
, have some valuable information cOncernin
the habits, varieties and peculiaritics ofthes
curious little creatures. Found through
out the range of both temperate and torri
zones, it is in the tropics that the mos
singular species abound. One of tn
/ chief peculiarities of the ants is their SO
cial relations. Assembling in counties
multitudes, they are divided into differen
classes, each with special order of dutie
to fulfill, but all working tremendously t
definite end-the perpetuation of tn
species. Their communities consist o
males, females and neutcrs, with generall
two and sometimes three distinct orders o
castles of the latter. The brunt of the worl
seems to fall upon the worker-minors
while the worker-majOr seems to be a sor
of superintendent or soldier.
One of the most interesting of tn
American species is the saubra, or leaf
cutting ant (EcodOma Cephdlotes). Tn
workers of this species are of three orders
and vary in size from two to seven lines
The true working class of colony 4
formed by the small-siZed order of workers
The other two kinds have enormousl,
swollen heads. The worker-minors vary
greatly in size, some being double tn,
bulk of Others The entire body is o
solid consistence and of a pale reddish
brown color. Some of their domes OF
outworks are very extensive, being forty
yards in circumference, but not more thar
two feet high. The entrances are small
and numerous; in the large hillocks
great amount of excavation is required te
| get at the main galleries; the minor en-
frances converge at few feet below
the ground to one broad Acknowledgements ed
gallery or mine four or five inches in
diameter. These underground abodes are
| very extensive. There is tunnel under
the bed of the River Parnahiba at place
where it is as broad as the Thames at Lon
don Bridge. The lives of ants are de
pendant upon access to water, and they
always choose places where it is to be OBJ
| tanned by digging wells. An ant-well has
been found twelve inches in diameter at a
| depth of thirty feet.
When engaged in clipping and carrying
away immense quantities of leaves the
procession of ants look like multitude of
animated leaves on the march. They
mount the trees in swarms, each one cut
ting a leaf with its sharp, scissorIike
jaws, and by sharp jerk detaching the
piece, which is about the size of dime.
Each marches of with the piece it has OPP
Grated upon, the path they follow becom-
ing smooth and bare like the impression
of a cart-wheel. The heavily-laden work
ers troop up and cast their burdens on the
hillock, another relay of laborers placing
the leaves in position, covering them with
layer of earthly granules. Mr.. Bates was
of opinion that the leaves were used to
thatch the domes which cover the en-
frances to the subterranean dwellings.
Mr. Belt, however, thought that they are
used to form beds for the growth of a
minute fungus, on which they and their
young live.
The visible work is done by the small
heads, while the big heads are generally
observed to be walking about. Prof. Sen
nichrast is of opinion that the special role
of the big heads is the excavation of the
nest and in tunneling the galleries, labors
which require superior strength and better
implements.
The third order of workers is most Gu
rieus. In thesmiddle of the forehead of a
small number of colossal fellows is trim
ocellus or simple eye of quite different
structure from the ordinary compound
eye on the sides of the head. Their spe-
cial function is unknown.
The true females are incapable of at
tending to the wants of their offspring, and
it is on the poor sterile workers that the
care devolves. The successful debut of
the winged males and females depends
likewise on the workers. Great activity
reigns in an ants nest on the exodus OF
the winged individuals. The workers
clear the roads of exit, and show the live
liest interest in their departure. They are
of large size, the female measuring two
and a quarter inches in expanse of wing,
the male being not much more than half
the size. They swarm in vast numbers,
but are so eagerly preyed upon by insec.
tivorous animals that but few of the fc- |
males escape the slaughter to found new |
colonies.
Resembling the sauba, in being vegcta-
bic feeders, are the harvest ants. These
ants were described as ascending the stalks |
of cereals and gnawing off the grains,
while others below detached the seed from
the chaff and carried it home, gnaw-
ing off the radiclc to prevent termination,
and spreading their stores in the sun to
dry after wet weather. Mr.. Moggridgc
has seen them in the act of collecting
seeds, and has traced seeds to the grana-
ries he has seen them bring out the grains
to dry after rain, and nibble off the radi-
Gle from those which were terminating.
Their depredations are of such an extent
as must cause serious loss to cultivators.
Texas and Northern Mexico furnish a
species in the honey making
ants. The site chosen for their nest is
usually some sandy soil in the ncighbOr-
hood of shrubs and flowers. The black
workers surround the nests as guards, and
are always in a state of great activity.
They form two lines of defense, moving
Inherent ways, their march being always
along three sides of "a square; one column
moving from the southeast to the south
west corners of the fertilization, while the
,thcr proceeds in the opposite direction.
Most of the nests lie open to the south, the
sides being surrounded by the
soldiers. In case of an enemy approach
ng, a number of guards sally forth to meet
he intruder. Spiders, wasps, beetles and
,ther insects are, if they come too near the
live, savagcly attacked, and the dead
,orhOod, the soldiers at once rcsuming
heir places in the line. Their object in
destroying other insects is protection OF
he encampment simply
When the course of the ant galleries is
raced from the entrances a small eXcava-
ion is reached, across which is stretched
n the form of a spiders web network
# squares about one-quarter inch across,
he ends of the web being fastened firmly
0 the earth upon the sides of the cell In
ach one of the squares, supported by the
yeb, sits one of the honey making workers
prisoners, for lOcomotion is impossible.
The workers provide them with constant
upply of flowers and pollen, which, by
recess analogous to that of the bee, they
onvert into honey The honey is much
ought after by the Mexicans, who not
My use it as a delicate article of food, but
scribe to it great healing properties.
The worst insect pest of tropical Amer
ca is the terrible tire-ant, whose sting is
kened to the puncture of a red-hot needle.
t is found only on sandy soil, on open
laces, and seems to thrive most near
ouses and in weedy villages. 1t is '
mall species, of shining red color, not 1