Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1880-06-09
ANTS AND THEIR MILCH
CA TITLE.

putably, more extraordinary than those
of any other in the whole range of ami
mated nature The ancients magnified
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
proceedings of these insects are so ex-
traordinary that they would stagger
our belief if not confirmed by the past
observations of such naturalists as HUI
Der and Eatrielle, 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 keep
ing and feeding certain other insects,
from which they extract sweet and
nutritious liquid, in the same way as
we obtain milk from cows There are
two kinds of insects from which the
ant tribe abstract this juice-the
aphides, or plant lice, and the gall in
sects. Linneus, and after him other
naturalists, have called these insects
the milch cattle of the ants and the
term is not inapplicable. In the proper
season, any person who may take the
trouble to watch their proceedings may
see, as Linn@us 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 scarce
ly inferior to honey in sweetness, and
issues in limpid drops from the body
of the insect, by two little tubes placed
one on each side just above the abdo-
men. The aphides insert their suck
ers into the tender bark of plant, and
employ themselves necessarily in alb
sorbing its sap, which, having passed
through the digestive system of the
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 a
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
antenn@ of the ants discharge the same
functions as the fingers of a milk maid;
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 o num-
ber of ants that were waiting anxiously
to receive it. The milk of one aphis
having been exhausted, the ant pro-
ceeds to treat others in the same man.
ner, until at length perfectly satiated,
and with belly swelled almost to burst
ing, it lazily descends the plant and
seeks it's nest A still more singular
fact connected with this branch of the
natural economy of these insects re-
mains to be stated.
These cows are not always consider
ed the common property of whole
tribe, but, on the contrary, some of
them are appropriated to the exclusive
use of the inhabitants of particular
hill or nest and to keep these cows to
themselves they exert all their skill and
industry. Sometimes the aphides in
habiting the branches of particular
tree or the stalks of particular plant,
are thus appropriated ; and any if va
grant foreigners attempt to share this
treasure with it's true owners, the lat
ter exhibiting every symptom of un-
easiness and anger, employ all their
efforts to drive them away. Some spe-
cies of ants go in search of these
aphides on the vegetables 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 milch kline they remove from
their native plants and dcmesticate in
their habitations, affording, as Huber
observes, an example of almost human
industry and sagacity. On turning up
the nest of the yellow ant this natural
ist one day saw variety of aphldes
either wandering about in the different
chambers 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 dphis never refused to yield
On the slightest appearance of dan
ger they took them up in their mouths
and gently removed them to more
secure spot. They dispute 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 species, which dc
not tgather the aphides together in theil
own nest, still seem to look on them as
private 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 aphide:
feed be conveniently situated the ants
have recourse to a very effectual expe
dient to keep off all trespassers they
construct around the branch contain
ing the aphides tube of earth, or some
other material, and in this inclosure
formed near the nest and generally
communicating with it, they secure
their cattle against all interlopers. Th'
brown ant has been observed by Hu
Der to build chamber around the stem
of thistle in such way that the stall
nocced throuph tho centre so that from