The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1881-12-21
WELLINGTON LoRAIN COUNTY, OHIO DECEMBER d. 1881.
Strategy versus Strength.

The SanQ-h0rnet Is the greateS6 VII
-iain that flies on insect wings, and he is
built for a professional murderer He
carries two keen cimiters besides adead-
II poisoned poniard, and is armed
throughout with q deadly coat of mail.
He has things all his own way; he lives
o life of tyranny and feeds on, blood.
There are few birds-4none that / know
of--that care to swallow such q red-hot
morsel. . It is said that not even the
butcher-brd bankers after him. The
toad will not touch him, seeming to
know by instinct what kind of chain
Iiehtning he contains. Among insects
this hornet is the harpy eagle, and near
ly all of them are at his mercy. = Even
the cicada, or drumming harvest-fy, an
insect often larger than himself, is his
very common victim. Considering
these characteristics, it was of especial
interest to witness such an incident as
have here, pictured, where one of these
huge tyrants was actually captured and
oyerpowered by the strategy of three
black ants. -,i-.... ,..- ~. - .-,,i
:; had left the meadow, and was as.
cending spur of the mountain by the
edge OF q pine wood, when suddenly ]
espied the hornet in question almost al
my feet. he Immediately took to wing,
and, as he flew on ahead of me OBJ
served long pendant object dangling
from his body. The incumbrance
proved too great an obstacle for contin.
uous fight, and he soon dropped again
upon the path, rod or so in advance
of me. II. overlook him, and on closer
inspection discovered plucky black
ant clutching tightly with Its teeth upon
the hind foot Of It's captive, while with
its two hind legs it clung desperately to
q long cluster of pine needles which il
carried as y dead weight. No sooner
did the hornet touch the ground than
the ant began to tug and yell for help.
There were certainly evidences to war
rant. such belief, for second
ant Immediately appeared upon the
scene,, emerging hurriedlyT from 3
neighboring thicket of pine-tree moss.
He was too late, however, for the hor.
net again sought escape in flight. But
this attempt was even more futile than
the former, for that plucky little assail-
ant had now laid hold of another imped-
iment, and this time not only the. long
pine needles, but a small branched stick
slso, went swinging through the air,
Only yard or so was covered in this
flight; and as the ant still yelled for re-
| CntOICCLuCubot us COLupdulOn dP-
| peared, and rushed upon the common
foe with such furious zeal that 1 felt like
patting him on the back. The whole
Significance of the scene he had taken
In at q glance, and in an instant he had
taken q vise-like grip upon the Other
hindleg. Now came the final tug oi
war. The hornet tried to rise, but thi:
second passenger was too much for him
he could only buzz along the ground
dragging his load after him, while his
new assailant clutched desperately al
everything within its reach, now a dried
leaf, now tiny stone, and even over
turning an acorn-cup in its grasp. Fl
nally, small rough stick the size of {
match was secured, and this proved the
.'last straw" In. vain were the strug.
| giles of escape. The hornet could dl
no more than lift his body from the
I ground. He rolled and kicked and tum
| bled, but to no purpose, except to max,
it very lively for his captors; and tn,
thrusts of that lively dagger were wasted
on the desert air, for whether or no
those ants knew its searching propensi
ties, they certainly managed to keel
lclear of this busy extremity.
/ OH How. long this pell-men battle woult
have lasted / know not, for third an
now appeared, and 1t was astonishing Il
see him; with every movement of tn
hornet, he in turn would lay hold of ,
third stick, and at the same time clutcl
Upon those pine needles to add thei
impeachment to the burden of his owl
body.uia ,hs1ui.G Gaof visGazia 'ar-zf
Il Practically the ants had won the vic
fsory, but what they intended to do witt
the foundering elephant in their hand
- DE- . - ~ klx.,-
Eonly a question of patience. They ha'
now pinned their victim securely, an
4 held him to await assistance. 1t came
The entire neighborhoodl had been ap
prised- of the battle, and in less than fiy
minutes the ground swarmed with a
army d of rerenforcements. They cam
from all directions; they pitched upo
that hornet with terrible ferocity, an
his complete destruction was now onl
II a question of moments. - WilliGns Ham
,ilton Gibson, in Harper's Magazine.