The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-07-23


the ground after q Dasilc 0e1ng srreyVnf
with decapitated bodies, heads and man
gled limbs of the slain. The insects fight
Two and two, in tho fashion Of the dteilo.
All tho evidences are apparent OF the ac-
ton of malignant passions-hate, anger,
cruelty and destructiveness
The ecitons while on the march not
only clear tho ground Of everything that
lives. but climb to the submits of the
highest trees, searching every leaf. II they
fird a wasps' nest, they gnaw away the
papery covesing 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 as dorymyr1nex which, though ex-
tresnely minute, does not hesitate to tao
klo the largest ants, fastening itself upon
the enemy and biting off his legs and an
tennB.
A field Of battle on which these little
tcrrors have fought against an army OF
wood ants is covered with f~ragmentary re.
mains. Sometimes they attack the har-
vcsting ants. destroying q colony and car
rying off all the stored provisions. Ihese
harvesting ants are very numerous IN
Texas and are famous for their skill as
agriculturists. They plant real llelds OF
grain, c~ultivating various species OF grasses
which serve them rs cereals. When me
seeds of tho grasses ripen and fall to the
ground, the ants carry them to their 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 Tho
common pavement ants, which throw up
little hills Of gravel between paving stones
and in gardens, arc great fighters, and
sometimes war breaks out between Two
communities Of them that live only a foot
or two apart. Such conflicts arc apt to be
started by the intrusion by members OF
colony into the snbterranean galleries
of the other. Ants generally when at war
make it 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 tho same tim it
must be admitted that they rave unscllsh
traits, tho business of rearing tho young
being conducted by the workers with IN
defatigable care. Customarily they bury
their own dead after q fight. Those spe-
cics of ants which nave no sting possess
nevertheless a tail gland that s~ccretcs
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 a distinct class of cit
liens who constitute a sort of warrior
caste, being provided with huge heads and
Jaws. They do 10 work whatever, appar-
entity 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 tho small
holes of entrance to tho nest. One of the
most remarkable engineering works of
ants is a tunnel that has been made by a
tribe OF the leaf cutting species under the
bed Of the Parahyba river, near Rio, at a
place where the stream mentioned is as
broad as the Thames at London bridge
Not far from Para ants Of this kind pierced
the embankment of a large reservoir, and
the great body of water which it 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 a single night, taking
it grain by grain.
While each nation of ants has its stand
riS ciAiy VIZ dOpAOA u III al fof 5SSiAo
hardly credible, yet o 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 at q
point of considerable distance below and
proceeding ON what appeared to be a
foray. 1t is a fact familiar enough that
the worker ants, which make up the main
J.oJx- IF ooah# onrornT1nif1 n1.o fap,o1oc nm.
developed seXually. Likewise the big
headed soldiers seem to be abnormal fe-
males-a body Of amazons, in a word.