The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1898-01-05
STRONG FOR THEIR SIZE.
Comparatively Speaking the California
Black Ant is the Most Able-Bodied of
at,,yoc

Creatures.
AS well as possessing many things of
great size, California can lay claim
to having within its borders the
strongest creature that lives; that is,
when it's size is considered.
The creature referred to Is the Califor-
mia black ant. If ever you have been
out camping you will know how strong
he is, for that discovery was made only
few days ago. The ants great
strength, however, has long been an
accepted fact of natural history.
1t has often been stated that an ant
could carry a load equal to its own
weight. But the California ant throws
them all into the shade, as the saying
is, for this fellow is capable of cary
ing with ease a. load six times his own
weight. And it may be that he can
carry more IL he would try real hard.
The ant that possesses such great
strength is known in different localities
by different names. The commonest of
all is "black ant sitting ant" and a
few other names unnecessary to men
ton. In this article the creature will be
called the black ant, for that is what
scientists call it when they are too tired
from the Latin. Of course men who
have been bitten by it have called it
names which were neither Latin or
Greek. Just what they were is mat
ter of no consequence; not now at least.
At all seasons of the year the black
ant is most promiscuous in all parts of
California. In the winter he can be
seen climbing among the crevices of
| rocks on rainy days and over the trunks
of trees when 1t Is warm enough to be
out In the summer he frequents diff
ferent localities, but shows a fondness
for climbing over lunch baskets and
into sugar bowls when you are out
| camping or even off on a days picnic.
In fact picnics are said to be this fell
lows delight. He usually starts in on
the lunch that the picknickers bring,
and then he starts In on the picknickers
themselves, as can be told by certain
screams that issue from secluded por-
lions Of the forest at the most unex-
pected times.
In size the black ant will measure
about three-tenths of an inch in length
on the average. He is smooth and poll
ished like bit Of jet, and has legs as
strong as steel. These legs are not
tough, as might be imagined but are
brittle like a sewing needle, and can be
snapped In two with pair of tweezers
as If they were made of glass. 1t is
this, perhaps, that gives it the great
power Of locomotion.
The Jaws Of this creature are some-
thing Utmost impossible to conceive Of
| They have been known to bite through
| a piece of fine brass wire at one move
| ment and cut it asvl can as though they
were of hardened steel. Everything
about this ant is OF the strongest kind,
and in reality it looks as If 1t were built
to resist the most terrible forces OF ma
ture. 1t really can resist a great deal
of force itself through a great many
things. 1t has been known to bore
holes in hard granite boulders, and yet
this same ant is helpless when he falls
/ into nlolasses jug,
All this has, you may say, very little
to do with the great strength OF the
black ant Of California, and you will be
right, but it is necessary to give an idea
of just what sort of a creature this ter
rible fellow is. In this connection it
| might not be out Of place to mention
/ the fact that small swarms Of ants sim
|. liar to these have been known to attack
am an and kill him in very short order
| The California black ants are fully ca
pable Of such a. terrible feat, but fortu-
nately there are not enough OF them to
make such a disaster possible.
| A few days ago a party Of scientific
men were watching a number of these
ants moving supplies into their cellar
| for the winter. 1t was on the northern
hill in Mill Valley, in a spot sheltered
from the wind and exposed to The sum
In fact an ideal place for black ants.
AS the professors had brought no lunch
with them, the ants were compelled 20
lay by the common stuff to be found on
the hillside. Some were engaged in
carrying seeds, while few others were
removing the choice part Of a dead bee
| tie.
| Each seemed to be making efforts to
Guido the others in carrying capacity,
/ just as country boys have been known
| to do during harvest season. Some of
the ants carried two seeds, and might
| have carried three If they could have
taken hold of them.
While all this was going on there
came racing over the rough ground
from a spot a few feet to the west of
where the big crowd was at work an
ant who seemed particularly proud of
what he had accomplished In his Jaws
was a piece of some kind of root, about
one and half inches long. Mr.. Ant
had hold Of one end of it, and held it
bolt upright-the hardest way he could
have chosen to carry it. But perhaps
that is the reason he seemed SO proud
| of what he had done.
| Of course it did not take the scien-
tific professors long to catch sight of
him land in a few moments there were
four magnifying glasses focused on
him. 1t was plainly seen that he was
holding the root at one end, and that
his jaws were deeply imbedded in it.
| Over boulders and chasms the ant
climbed, apparently with little effort,
and always getting nearer and nearer
the storage cellar. When he went
through the big crowd not one of them
made an effort to help him. They
| didn't even stop to admire him, but
| kept right along with their seeds and
the dead beetle Once while going over
a boulder, he slipped and fell to the
| bottom, but never let go his hold on the
| piece of root. After struggling wildly
he managed to get the root pointed up
ward again, drew in a long breath and
| started off.
At this stage of the game one of the