The Osceola times., 1880-09-11

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 trace be found ofthe
aphis, or ant-cow, which many of our
ants milk for its honey,
The honey-gatherer is difficult to OBJ
serve. II is a nocturnal ant. keeping
out of sight of the sun during the dav
and only venturing forth at nightfall in
search of food. DIR. NcCook observed
them; in the summer twilight, marching
outward from the nest in long columns
and pursuing night after night the same
paths. He watched them for a consider
able time before hc succeeded i'm finding
the goal OF these nightly expeditions.
At length discovering some ants on Il
species of scrub oak, which grew abund-
antly at the foot OF the ridge, he observ-
ed that they showed a marked prefer
ence for certain small oak-galls which
were ranged along the sides of the
cliffs.
The next thing to be done was to ex-
anime these gals. We are accustomed
to associate gals with the idea of Bit
terness only, yet they proved to be the
true honey -yielders. On the round,
green masses minute drops of sweet
juice were found; this the ants eagerly
licked up. passing from gall to gall until
laden, or returning TO the original gall
at later hour when fresh sweetness
had exuded from it.
The gall-nut, it is well known, is an
excrescence upon the leaves of a species
of oak; it is produced by the puncture
OF a small hymenopterous insect for the
purpose of deposting its eggs. A min
ute grub lies in the centre of the soft
mass which composes the gall, Wheth-
er 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 exudation of the sap.
All night the busy gatherers of sweets
were occupied in collecting honey from
the gals. Toward morning they were
seen in great numbers returning to the
nest, their bodies swollen with the
nights harvest of honey, which, as we
have said, is given to the living honey
combs within, being forced from the
bodies of the workers and into the
mouths of the honey-bearers, until by
the tine the season is over they present
a remarkable distention.
ms 10 dDOut all lildl 10 hllONll ~ pre-
sent concerning the habits of these
strange ants. They very likely have
other sources of honey at other seasons;
but the most interesting fact is the sur
prising mode of storage Of this sweet
food.
In New Mexico the inhabitants put
these ants to a very peculiar use, supple
menting their dinners with plateful of
honey-ants for dessert. The overaden
insects wait in enforced patience while
the preceding courses of the dinner aIe
oeing eaten. The mode of partrking of
this strange dessert is to pick up an ant,
nip the honey-bag with the teeth, fore
ing its sweet contents into the mouth,
while the remainder is thrown away.
We are told that this is not so disagree
able habit as it might at first seem,
the skin surrounding the honey being
reduced to thin, transparent mem
brane, with nothing necessarily unpleas-
ant in its character. Nevertheless, most
of us will prefer to continue indebted to
the bee for our supply of honey, leaving
the ants to enjoy the fruits of their own
labors.