Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-07-23

Kingdom probably has from 200, 900 900 to
400, O00, 200 Inhabitants all forming one
community and living together in active
and friendly intercourse, while they are
on hostile terms with all other nations Of
aLts, even those of the same species.
1t is known that there are at least 1000
species of ants in the world. The ferocity
exhibited by ants in fighting is extreme,
the ground after battle being strewn
with decapitatcd bodies heads and man.
gled limbs of the slain. The insects fight
two and two in the fashion Of the Iiucllo.
All tho evidences arc apparent of the &C.
ton of malignant passions-hate, anger,
cruelty and destructivcncss.
The ecitons while on the march not
only clear the ground of everything that
lives, but climb to the SUBMITS of the
highest trees. searching every leaf. II they
fird wasps' nest, they gnaw away the
papery covering to get at the young grubs,
cutting everything to tatters regardless of
the Infatuated owners who are flying
about. There is a kind of ant known to
science rs dorymyrmex which, though ex-
tremely minute, does not hesitate to tao
kle the largest ants, fastening itself upon
the enemy and biting of his legs and an
tenne. -- ....-..
A field of battle on which these little
tcrrors have fought against an army Of
wood ants Is covered with fragmcntary re-
mains. Sometimes they attack the har-
vesting ants, destroying n colony and car
rying off all the stored provisions. These
harvesting ants are very numerous In
Texas and are famous for their skill as
agriculturists. They plant real fields of
grain, cultivating various species of grasses
which serve them as cereals. When The
seeds Of the grasses ripcn and fall 10 the
| ground, the ants carry them tothcir store
houses and put them away.
Now and then fierce wars occur between
two colonies Of harvesting ants, which
send out armies against each other The
| common pavement ants, which throw up
little hills of gravel between paving stones
and in gardens, are great fighters, and
| sometimes war breaks out between two
communities Of them that live only foot
| ortwo apart. such conflicts are apt to lie
| started by the intrusion by members of
| one colony into the subtcrrancan galleries
| of the other. Ants generally when at war
make il a rule to carry their wounded OIL
| the field of battle, but the injured of the
| enemy they leave to die or take away to
| eat.
There Is nothing very pleasant about the
| character of ants. At the same time il
must be- admitted that they have unselflsll
traits, the business Of rearing the young
being conducted by the workers with in
defatigable care. Customarily they bury
their own dead after a fight. Those spc
cics of ants which have no sting possess
nevertheless q tail gland that secretcs
formic acid, which evidently Is disagree
able and perhaps poisonous TO insects OF
| this order.
In every ant colony, whatever the spe
cies, there is usually distinct class of cit
liens who constitute a sort of warrior
caste, being provided with huge heads and
jaws. They do no work whatever, appar
emily their business being to fight How
ever, there is a South American species
not at all warlikc, which lives in trees
and the big headed fellows are employed
as living shoppers to close up the small
holes of entrance to the nest One of tn,
most remarkable engineering works oil
ants Is tunnel that has been made by q
tribe of the leaf cutting species under tn,
bed of the Parahyba river, near Rio, at o
place where tho stream mentioned is a.
broad as the Thames at London bridge
Not far from Para ants of this kind pierced
the embankmcnt of large reservoir ant
the great body of water which il contained
escaped before the damage could be repair
ed. These ants have been known to carry
off the contents of a two bushel basket Of
mandioca meal in single night, taking
1t grain by grain.
While each nation Of ants has its stand
ing army, the notion of an ant navy seem,
hardly credible, yet well known natu
ralist says that on one occasion he saw
formidable body Of military ants embark
on a lot Of chips that were floating slowly
down a stream, subsequently landing ut
point of considerable distance below ant
proceeding on what appeared to be
foray. 1t is n fact familiar enough tina
the worker ants, which make up the mali
body of each community, are females un
developed sexually. Likewise the biz
headed soldiers seem TO tc abnormal f.
males-a body Of amazons in word.