Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-02-15
regularity and precision in which thou

erS. mere (taklnS uoWH d DOA) rs
the agricultural ant of Texas. In pre-
pairing their home they clear away a
smooth place, generally circular in
shape, tearing up all vegetable growth
except q certain kind Of grass which
they protect and care for with every
possible attention, wedding it, etc., Just
as a farmer would, and why? Because
it is their winter grain, and when ripe
they gather it and stow it away as does
the farmer. Prof. Lincecum states
that not only do the ants protect the
grain, but they actually sow it. Be-
meath the ground are numbers of aper-
lures with oval tops in which this grain
is kept, and if a rain comes and the
seeds get damp and show an inclination
to sprout, they are taken out and placed
in the sun. If a sprout is noticed the
germ is destroyed, while it is said of
some ants that they bite the seed and in
some way prevent it from sprouting.
s.In eating the seeds the ants wait I'M
til they swell and are soft, and they
have often been seen standing on their
hind legs holding the seed like . squir-
rel"
''What is the name of the GRASP"
asked the reporter.
ut is called anti-rice,' replied the
ant man, land is known to botanists as
Bulch1ae d%actyloides. In tropical
America the ants gather leaves for an
other purpose. Their houses are large
dome-like structures, and at certain
times ants have been seen passing out
in lines we a mile long. each returning
in regular order with a piece of leaf in
its mouth about the size of a cent. The
leaves are taken into the domes and
placed onto the roof as thatchings-not
exactly as a wallpaper, but to encour-
age the growth of a peculiarf fungus that
soon appears upon it. This ant is the
Sauba.
Gas human farmers have cattle"
said the speaker, $50 have ants. They
herd the little insect aphis. feeding them
upon the sap of plants, that exudes
from the aphis in the form of u clear
drop of honey-like matter which the
ants are very fond of. These insects
are then herded as cows, and domes-
ticated in the houses of the ants, some
species actually breeding them as we do
cattle, rearing them from the eggs, tax
ing the young from their nests and
placing them on the tender shoots with
out, carrying them within upon the APP
proach of cold. Another ant builds a
regular cow-shed or stable for its herd.
that is made of bits of wood, arched
and erected with great care. When the
ants wish to milk their COWS they tap
and caress them with their antenn;e un-
til they give out the honey, and several
ants have been observed waiting in line
to receive their supply.
.Besides the insects" continued the
ant authority, ''ants keep many others
for pets, some on account Of their pecu-
liar odor, and some for other reasons.
The ,tarmica auta has over a thousand
domestic animals and pets. and Andre
gives a list of five hundred and eighty
odd species of insects that are always
found in the nests of ants. OF these
owe five hundred are beetles.
"Like many people, and ourselves
twenty years ago, the ants are slave
dealers, and this is one of the most re-
markable features of ant life. The
slave-holding ants (polyorgus retusccns)
have become so dependent upon their
slaves that they really starve to death if
deprived of them: According to Sir
John Lubbock and Huber, even their
bodily structure has undergone a
change; the mandibles have lost their
teeth. and have become mere nippers,
deadly weapons, indeed. but useless ex-
cept in war. They have lost the greater
part of their instincts; their art, that is
the power of building; their domestic
habits, for they show no care for their
own young, all this being done by the
slaves; their industry-they take no part
in providing the daily supplies. If the
colony changes the situation of the nest,
the masters are all carried on the backs
of the slaves to the new one. AS 1 said
before, they have even lost
the habit of feeding. Huber
placed thirty of them with some
Larvae and pupa and a supply of honey
in a box. At first he said they appeared
to pay some little attention to the
larva; they carried them here and
there, but presently replaced them.
More than one-half of these aristocrats
died Of hunger in less than two DAYS.
They had not even traced out a dwell
ing, and the few ants still in existence
were languid and without strength. Fl
nally they were given one of theil
black companions and this individual,
unassisted, established order, formed q
chamber in the earth, gathered togethe,
the larva, extricated several young ants
that were ready to quit the condition O.
pupe, and preserved the life of the re,
naming ants"
"Of course" said the naturalist
''ants eannot make bottles and Jars tt
keep liquid food, but they get over thi.
in a remarkable manner; in fact, the,
make several of their companions serve
as bottles. This is the honey ant O.
Mexico and Colorado. For a long time
there has been a dish served as desser
at Mexican tables that the averag,
American did not entirely understand
1t was an oval bell of honey, and DR.
McCook, of Philadelphia, has shown
that the curious dish was. merely tn,
bottled-up ants themselves.
''These ants are nocturnal in habit
and their food consists of honey whicl
exudes from gals on the scrub-oak
The ants work all night long gathering
this sweet emulation. which they do no
use Immediately for food, but store VI
in a remarkable manner. certain anon!
them hpinp nDDyarta1 into 1iy;p,