The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1880-06-12
Ants and Their Mich Cattle.

THE instincts of the ant are, indis-
putably, more extraordinary than those
of any other in the whole range of ami
mated nature. The ancients magnifed
them into fabulous miracles. Pliny
talks of an Indian ant as big as an
Egyptian wolf, of the color of cat,
which entered the bowels of the earth
in search of gold, of which they are
said to have been plundered during the
winter by the human inhabitants of
those regions. But eXaggeration and
credulity apart, the real habits and pro-
ceedings of these insects are so extraor-
binary that they would stagger our be-
lief if not confirmed by the past OBJ
servations of such naturalists as Huber
and Latreille, and those of Sir John
Lubbock and others of our own day.
One of the most singular traits in their
manners and customs is that of keeping
and feeding certain other insects, from
which they extract sweet and nutri-
tious liquid, in the same way as we OBJ
tain milk from COWS. There are two
kinds of insects from which the ant
tribe extract this juice-the aphides, or
plant lice, and the gall insects. Lin
n@us, and after him other naturalists,
have called these insects the mich cat
tie of the ants; and the term is not in
applicable. In the proper season, any
person who may choose to take the
trouble to watch their proceedings may
see, as Linn4us says, the ants ascend
ing trees that they may milk their COWS,
the aphides. The substance which is
here called milk is saccharine fluid,
which these insects secrete; it is scarcely
inferior to honey in sweetness, and is
sues in limpid drops from the body of
the insect, by two little tubes placed one
on each side just above the abdomen.
The aphides insert their suckers into
the tender bark of plant, and
employ themselves necessarily. in
absorbing its sap, which, having
passed through the digestive system of
the insect, is discharged by the organs
just mentioned. When no ants happen
to be at hand to receive this treasure,
the insects eject it to distance by
jerking motion which at regular inter-
walls they give their bodies. When the
ants, however, are in attendance, they
carefully watch the emission of the
precious liquid, and Immediately suck
it down. The ants not only consume
this fluid when voluntarily elected by
the aphides, but what is still more sur
prising, they know how to make them
yield it at pleasure, or in other words,
to milk them. On this occasion the an
tenn@ of the ants discharge the same
functions as the fingers of milkmaid;
with these organs, moved very rapidly,
they stroke the abdomen of an aphis
first on one side and then on the other,
and Immediately little drop of the
much coveted juice issues forth, which
the ant eagerly conveys to its mouth. A
single aphis has been known to give it
drop by drop successfully to number
of ants that were waiting anxiously to
receive it. The milk of one aphis hav-
ing been exhausted, the ant proceeds to
treat others in the same manner, until
at length perfectly satiated, and with
belly swelled almost to bursting, it lazily
descends the plant and seeks its nest.
A still more singular fact connected with
this branch of the natural economy of
these insects remains to be stated.
These cows are not always considered
the common property of a whole tribe,
but, on the contrary, some of them are
appropriated to the exclusive use of the
inhabitants of a particular hill or nest;
and to keep these COWS to themselves
they exert all their skill and industry.
Sometimes the aphides inhabiting the
branches of particular tree, or the
stalks of particular plant, are thus ap-
and if any vagrant for
eigners attempt to share this treasure
with its true owners, the latter, exhibit |
ing every symptom of uneasiness and
anger, employ all their efforts to drive
them away. Some species of ants go in
search of these aphides on the vegeta-
bles where they feed; but there are
others, such as the yellow ant, which
collect large herd of kind of aphis,
which derives its nutriment from the
roots of grass and other plants.
These mich kline they remove from
their native plants and domesticate in
their habitations, Attending, as Huber
observes, an example of almost human
industry and sagacity. On turning up
the nest of the yellow ant this naturalist
one day saw variety of aphides either
wandering about in the different cham
bers or attached to roots of plants
which penetrated into the interior. The
ants appeared to be extremely jealous
of their stock of cattle; they followed
them about and caressed them, when
ever they wished for the honeyed juice,
which the aphis never refused to yield.
On the slightest appearance of danger
they took them up in their mouths and
gently removed them to a more shell
tered and more secure spot. They dis
pute with other ants for them, and, in
short, watch them as keenly as any
pastoral people would guard the herds
which form their wealth. Other spe-
cies, which do not gather the aphides
together in their own nest, still
seem to look on them as pri-
waite property; and, what is
yet more extraordinary, they inclose
them, as farmer does his sheep, to
preserve them not only from rival ants,
but also from the natural enemies of
the aphis. If the branch on which the
aphides feed be conveniently situated
the ants have recourse to a very effectu-
al expedient to keep off all trespassers;
they construct around the branch con-
tanning the aphides tube of earth, or