The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1898-05-17
INTELLECTUAL ANTS.
THEY ARE SAID TO BE THE MOST IN.
TELLIGENT OF INSECTS.

They Have Political and Social organizs
lions That May Be Likened to Those OF
Man-Some Work, While Others Do Nc
Labor, but Live Sumptuously.
$50 to the ant thou sluggard; con.
slider her ways and be WISE" said Solo
mon over 8, 900 years ago, and the re.
searches of modern naturalists have
only confirmed the excellence of the
wise mans advice in holding up the ant
as an example for man, for among in.
vertebrate animals the ant holds the
same position that man does among the
vertebrate The ant is the most intel.
lectual of all insects
Ants are truly wonderful insects.
They build houses, train soldiers, en-
slave ants and other insects inferior to
themselves; they are capable agrioul-
turists, for they keep a species of milk
kline, clear the ground, SOW grain, reap
and gather into barns. They are social
insects, and in many respects are exam
Piles in miniature of man. They have
their monarchs, pride themselves on
their aristocracy, and also indulge to
excess in Intoxicating liquors.
Ants are divided into three classes
males, females Cor queens) and neuters
(workers). The two former are winged,
and their sole duty in life is to multiply
their species. Immediately after pairing
the male ants die, and the queens, re-
nouncing the pomps and vanities of this
world, henceforward devote themselves
to the duties Of maternity. To the lot
of the neuters falls all the work Some
of them are told off to wait on the
with the greatest attention. Each batch
of eggs, as soon as they are laid, are
carried away and deposited in the hatch
ing chambers open to the rays of the
sun. The workers nurse the ant babies
when they appear, putting them in the
warm upper galleries by day and re-
moving them at night into the suggest
lower chambers.
After several months careful nursing
and feeding, the larva passes into the
pupa stage, and spins itself into a CO.
coon, from which it energies a full
grown ant. 1t is these cocoons that are
sold as "ants' eggs" the real eggs are
SO minute that even the ants themselves
could not pick them up in their mandi-
bles were not several fastened together
by natural gum. Queen ants, accord
ing to Sir John Lubbock, live as long as
ten years, while DR.. Dallinger states
that worker ants live from fonr to six
years The queen ants are treated with
the utmost reverence, and while the
corpse of a worker ant is usually imme-
diately disposed of the body of a queen
is often preserved as long as Is months
after its death.
The ant has three simple and two
compound eyes, the latter consisting of
/ from $50 to 200 lenses each. In pass
ing, it may be mentioned that the ordi-
nary house fly has 4, 1000 lenses, the CAD
fly IL, 900 and the dragon fly 30, 600
lenses to each eye Physically, as we'll
as intellectually, ants are the giants of
the insect world; they can easily carry
even ten times their own weight.
The ant houses are most marvellous
examples Of construction. Part of the
nest is above the ground and part below
it. These houses are often 40 stories in
height, and are built of stones, leaves,
4 sticks and earth. The subterranean part
/ is honeycombed into passages and cells
and all the tunnels and galleries run
| into one common oenter-the public
hall of the ant colony. The government
| is republic, and various colonies have
! been known to mass together for the
purpose of defense. A Swiss scientist
has discovered regular empire of ants,
covering an area of 200 square yards,
and containing 200 colonies or republics
with population of 40, 600, 900 ants.
There are many species of ants which
are incapable of managing their own
nests or of rearing their young, and
these in consequence impress into their
service the workers of other species of
ants and leave all the rough work to
\ their captives. Periodically the master
ants set off on slave hunting expedi-
| ton. They find out the nest of special
ant whose aid they need. They raid it
and, overcoming its defenders enter and
bear off triumphantly the pupR These
are carried to the masters nest, where
they are speedily Matched, and knowing
no other home and forced by instinct
to work they toll industriously for their
masters. So lazy and dependent upon
their willing slaves do the master ants
become that at length they are unable
to feed themselves. Food has been
placed before these lords of the ant Gre
alton, and they would not even take the
trouble to eat Then some slave ants
were introduced. They tidied up the
/ place and fed their masters.
The ants have some method of know
ing members of their own tribe. If an
ant is put into strange colony, it is in
stantly killed as an intruder, while if
one is taken from its home and restored
to it after long lapse of time it is inn
mediately welcomed and recognized.
Sir John Lubbock took 10 ants from
each of two different colonies, and made
them drunk. Then they were all put
back into one of the colonies The ants
inspected them, carried away their COM
panions and took care of them until
they recovered, while the foreigners
were dropped into the water A large
dead fly was put on the table, and one
ant Immediately went over and pulled
at it, but found himself unable to
move it. He then went away, and
speedily returned with three compan-
ions, and by their united efforts the fly
was carried away,
It has long been known that some
species of ants are in the habit of acting
in exactly the same manner as man in
keeping insect COWS for the sake of the
milk they supply The ordinary green
fly, or aphis, is to the ant what the
COW is to man. This green fly is capable
of exuding from two nipplelike projec-
tions sort of liquid gum, of which
ants are extremely fond
HOW THE GURKHAS FIGHT.
They Punctuated Their Attacks on For
tress With Football Games.
Not two miles from Nilt progress was
again arrested-and this time for weeks
r ~