Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1880-08-26

! SKIN. which II CtRabit hi EIttt tlSti ut4hti'
Ii is thus Ia reality honey cell ard much
stranger than that oil the bee, the waNen
walls of the latter being replaced in this
case by the tissues OF a living animal The
| creature can afford to dispense with the
bdominal organs, since its lte-duties are
50 metamorphuSed that ii has hencetorth Ia
Z act as an animated sweetmeat
! DR.. McCook's observations enabled him
/ to discover that the working ants, return
/ ing from their outdoor toraging, with their
4 bodies distended with the honey they have
| somewhere harvested enter the chambers
of the nest and eject this sweet luid from
i their own mouths into the mouths OF Inc
! honey-bcarers. whose bodies become greatly
! distended with the delicious food. In other
/ cases he perceived hungry ants seeking for
! meal from the food thus generously stored
! up The honeY-bearcr seemed TO Slightly
! contract the muscles OF the abdominal SKIN,
I forcing from its mouth minute gluhuleS of
/ honey; these cluug To the hairs of the nm
der lip and were eagerly Tapped up by the
hungry ants waiting To be fed It Is proba-
! BILE, however, that these supplies are priuci-
pally intended rs winter stores for the
workers, for the feeding of Larvae, and for
! the dinner-tabe of the queen, who is as
usual, too proud or too diguited To do her
own foraging.
The working ants take great care of
their helpless honey-bcarers. When one,
/ through some CONFUSION OF nature-occls-
/ Toned perhaps by the tap Of Il gigantic hui
man tinger-looscs its hold and drops to
the floor of its chamber, II is at once
picked up 10y worker and carried back to
its old toothold on the roof OF the apart
| ment How this minute creature can drag
! up a perpendicular wall mass twenty
| times it's own size and weight is only less
| surprising than il would be TO see an udroit
climber of the human race ascending the
face of mccipicc and pulling after him a
ton weight
With regard to the source of honey, these
ants are not known to feast ON flowers, like
bees and some of our home ants, nor could
any evidence he found of the AphjS, or ant
COW, which many Of our ants milk for its
honey.
The honey gatherer is difficult 10 observe,
1t is nocturnal ant, keeping out of sight
of the sun during the day, and only NcntW-
ing forth at nightiall in search of food. Or.
McCook observed them, in the summer
twilight, marching outward from the nest
in long columns, and pursuing night after
night the same paths lie watched them
for considerable time before he succeeded
IN finding the goal of these nightly eApedi-
tons At length discovering some ants on
the twigS of species Of Scrub-oak, which
grew abundantly at the foot of the ridge
he observed that they showed a marked
preference for certain small 0ak-gaIlS which
were ranged along the sides of the tWigs.
The next thing to be done Yas to eX-
anime these gals Ne are accustomed to
associate gals with the idea Of bitterness
only yet they pluHeli to BE the true honey
yielders, On the round, green MASSES,
minute drops of a sweet Juice were found (;
this the ants eagerly licked up, passing
from gall to gall until fully laden, or re-
turning to the original gall ut a later hour
when fresh sweetness had eNuded from It..
The gall-nut it is we'll known, is an cX-
crescence upon the leaves Of a species Of
oak it is produced by the puncturc OF q
small hymcuuptcrous insects Tor the purpose
Of dep0siting lis eggs. A minute grub lies
in the center 81 the soft mass which COM
poses the gall Whether the sweet juice
came from this grub, or from the sap of the
tree was not readily to be discovered,
though it was most likely an emulation Of
the sap
All night the busy gatherers Of sweets
were occupied in collecting honey from the
gals. Toward morning they were II IN
great numbers returning to the nest, their
bodies swollen with the nights harvest of
honey, which, rs we have said, is given to
the living honcy-combs within being fore
ed from the bodies of the workers and into
the mouths of the honey-bearers, until by
the time the season is over, they present 4
remarkable distention
This is about all that is known at pres
mt concerning the habits OF these strange
nts They very likey have other sources
ii honey at other SEASONS; but the most
interesting fact is the surprising mode OF
forage OF this swee; ,pad
In New Mexico t.. Inhabitants put these
ants to a very peculiar use, supplemcnting
their dinners with plate.nl Of h0ney-ants
Tor desert The Oyerladen insects wait in
enforced patience while the preceding
courses of the dinner are being eaten, The
mode Of partaking Of this strange dessert
is to pick mp al ant, nip the honcy-bag
with the teeth forcing lis sweet contents
into the mouth, while TIE remainder IS
thrown away We are told that this Is not
50 disagreeable a habit as it might at first
seem. the skin surrounding the honey be-
ing reduced to a thin, transparent mem-
bEme with nothing necessarily unpleasant
in its character Nevertheless most OF us
will prefer 10 continue Indebted 70 the bee
for aIr supply of horcr, leaving the ants
To enjoy the fruits OF tlpir own labors.-
J0uIuoL Of Satgace.