The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1883-05-17
THE LOWER ANIMALS.
considering the Ways OF tho Intelliae,t
Ant.
From the Neu York .S,,u.

Suiious reHectlOn OF human
ahairs IN the actions Of the lower ami.
n'ais, said the naturalist to the reporter
Everything but the dynamite phase, :"
suggested the latter
NO, won't except that" was the re-.
py; and III wager you can't mention
ciass Oh men or an occupation followed
ny. shem TO which | csn't SHOW YOU some.
thing similar in the so.called lover
animal Kingdom" ~
| fiend. u' 'n"'''''o
We'll" continued the naturalist. null.
ing out drawer upon which was blood.
curdiing name, "here's a beetle thet
belongs to the explosive brotherhood
ana SO powerful an agent is it that it is
called the 'Bombardier,' and is ready to
go OIL at & moments notice. 1t il. as
you see, an ld.fashioned sort of fellow
-doesn't affect long hair and the like
put let an enemy follow 1t too closely and
II stops suddenly, and if you were listen.
ing you would here report, a puff of
"ih0ao would rise in the air, and the pur.
SueF would DC completely dornoraiized
nave seen these boEr rbeTdies fire HTs oT
SIX times in as many minutes, whirliue
about as if taking aim. The explosives
come from gland. Quite number of
animals carry explosives. The Iarv;e of
some dragon flies eject liquid Irritating
TO- man. The squids, however, lead in
THIS respect. remember drifting alone
the reef at Nassau several years ago, and
seeing several squids just below the sur.
lace, put out my hand, and in a second
my dearest friend wouldn't have known
me. | was literally drenched with ink
which was thrown from distance of at
least three feet. 1t was indelible, aud I
still have the vouchers in the way of
stained !inen."
Here the naturalist took down draw.
er labelled "Myrmeleon," and said
Here is not only a plotter, but dia.
gram of its trap. The propensity seems
bred in the bone, as it is INDUCED in by the
young insects. When first hatched the in.
sects seeks out soft soil on some minia.
ture sandy plain. It generally holds it
head in place at one point, while it's body
ls whirled about like pair of dividers.
This done, the insect begins throwing
out the sand; some is carried, but the
greater part is removed on plan that at
least shows an attempt at labor saving.
with quick movement the worker
shovels load upon its head, aud by q
backward upward jerk hurls it far out of
the excavation. 1fa pebble or stone is met
with it is tossed out in the same way,
masses half as large as the worker being
hurled over foot away. When large
stone is encountered the intelligence dis
played is remarkable. The engineer
seems to know that the rock can't be toss
ed, and 80 he carefully rolls it upon his
head and proceeds to climb up the incline
of the pit. Naturally the stone would
roll off of any incline, but to avert this
the insect lifts its tail high in the air.
and 80 crawls up the side with the stone
on perfect level. have seen them try
stone ten or ifteen times, and then give
itup and select another location. After the
pit is completed it represents the cast of
an inverted cone, and at the bottom the
insect conceals itself, leaving only its
two enormous jaws protruding. You see
here on this diagram the whole tragedy
is enacted. We will suppose that this
ant is the cZar on the way to coronation.
He rushes along, comes TO the pit with
his attendants, steps on the prepared
slides, and goes rolling down into the
mouth of the living or nihilist trap be.
low. Perhaps when half way down the
ant regains foothold, and aeemsin fair
way to escape, but the trap maker throws
offall concealment, quickly shovels sand
upon its head, and hurls load after load
al the victim, who rolls down helpless
into his enemy's jaws, and is destroyed.
When the trap maker has sucked the
blood be unceremoniously hoists the
remains nnan hie head ard throws them
out upon the sand. The pit is then pre-.
pared for the next victim.''
Among the arimai workers all occu-
pations are found. Take q colony of
bees, for instance. In forming nest
one set Of bees are ordinary laborers, and
form tho rough cells. A set of skilled
laborers then take hold and shape the
cells, and 80 on. Among the ants the
workers not only have their share OF
work to do, but they differ from the
the king, queer queens, a' soldiers and p1aer laborers
being all markedly different in appear.
ance. The soldiers have enormous Jaws,
but never work. They rush out fiercely
when you break into a nest. If the
enemy is not visible they return, and
the laborers come out and begin repairs.
The army ants Of South America show
great :St5!!iSsnce. The workers. like our
oaPPSto ouo t,lAhCiot obeCu ~ hhCho anu
form O protective arch, under which the
soldiers march; and so rapidly is this
thrown up that the onward march is not
delayed. The ants are also slave owners.
They capture ants of other species and
force them to work for them and attend
them as body servants. So luxurious do
some of these slave owners become that
they are utterly helpless when deprived
of thasp v,,ao;o1c Tho latfor MT np1,
wait on their masters, but feed them. #
the slaves are taken away their owners
perish"
"Ants are also farmers. In Texas a
tribe collect the seeds of various plants
and plant them in close proximity to
their homes, so that they can benefit by
the seed. The farmer or grain ants Of
Europe store up vast supplies in under.
ground granaries. After dray season
the seeds are taken out and laid in the
sun and finally returned"
"How is it the seeds don't sprout"
asked the reporter. "That's the most
wonderful part of it. The seeds don't
sprout, there they are, planted under
ground and kept fresh. 1t is supposed
that the ants bite the seeds in some way
30 that they are in state of coma, just
as wasps sting animals so that they re.
main insensi6le for months. Ants may
be said also 10 Keep cows-not exactly
Durhams, but insects that answer the
same purpose. They collect the plant
lice, and, BY caressipg them 10 soma way,
force or induce them to give out OF exude
a drop ofsweet liquor. Ihave seen five or
SIX ants awaiting their turn to milk one
of these ,cows. The ants often collect
the eggs Of the aphides, place them on