The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1901-03-15
OLD ANT THEORIES
EXPLODED BY SCIENCE
Some Too Lazy to Move Themselves
and Many Are Slave
holders.

SOME VERY WICKED MANNERS
Queer Uses They Make of slaves-Their
Herds of Domestic Animals
| Cultivated by Ants-Their Agri-
| cultural Science.
| New York Sun: Science is after all
your real iconoclast Not content with
topping the busy little bee off her pin
nacle of virtues, it goes on to attack
the ant. for SO long held pattern and
moral of thrift.
Ants, say the wise men. have about
| every bad trait Of humanity-they are
lazy, greedy, tyrannolls, given to con-
quests and coveting the territory of
their neighbors. Along with the terri
| tory they oftener than not take the
neighbors themselves, holding them
ever after IL. slavery.
Just how this comes to pass Is some
thing Of puzzle. There are 700 odd
species of ants duly classified. Sew
eral of these species. say observers,
must possess hypnotic power, since
they attack, subjugate and reduce to
slavery other species which are much
bigger, stronger and more populous In
the nests.
After they have got their slaves
many other queer things happen. The
slaves IN some nests are classified. so
many told off as soldiers to defend the
gates, SO many for domestic duties.
foraging, the care Of eggs and so on.
The soldier ants are further subdl-
vided. The larger number by con-
slant exercise develop fierce nipping
jaws and poison stirgs. The others
IN some curious fashion increase the
size OF their heads, especially If thew
happen to be considerably bigger than
their masters. The big heads enable
them to block passageway against
all invading foe.
slave Ants AS Honey Bottles.
Exceptionally elastic slaves are
transformed into living honey bottles.
They are found with abdomens enor-
mously distended, and full of the
honey dew The working slaves bring
IN. Honey dew, be it said, is secre-
ton Of the aphides or plant lice, which
the ant swarms keep in herds within
the nest.
Ants are passionately fond Of honey
indeed, of all sweet juices. They are.
further, fond of mushroom and grow
them within their nests. They also
cultivate certain species of orchids.
and bring about distinct notifications
of the plant form, singing the young.
tender stems so iercely that they viii
become almost globular and distill a
thin semi saccharine juice, which the
ants no doubt regard as rare wine. One
particular species of orchid indeed. is
so infested with virulent singing
ant that the collection Of it is very
dangerous. The minute the plant is
oil no ot, 70
1t rush to the point Of attack That is.
however, less curious than the fact
that the orchid will not flourish with
out the ants, but withers away after
feeble, struggling years growth.
Some few among slave-holding ants
remain capable. The most part be-
come utterly demoralized. They can
not build nests, care for their young,
or even feed themselves. Not a few
when the slaves have chosen and built
new nest ride to 1t upon slaves
back. One SPECIES Is noteworthy for
having only slaves for workers, yet
never containing within the nest any
slave eggs Or young.
As with bees the queen ant is the
mother of the swarm. Unlike bees,
however. there are often several queens
IN the same swarm. The workers are
rudimentary females. In slave making
the Yictors kill all the perfect ants and
lake home the others.
Perfect males and females have
wings. which they drop as soon as the
marriage fight is over. Worker ants
nave no wings. Worker ants or rather
slaves, and the aphiscows by~no means
exhaust the list Of ant dependents.
They keep various smaller insects as
men keep domestic animals. Just why
is not yet clear. The fact remains,
though, that in the crannies of some
nests herds Of a thousand almost In
found.
A Year the Life Span.
A year is the average span Of ant
life, but some species live five years,
and exceptional individuals as much as
seven. All species show the liveliest
concern for their eggs, Juggling them up
.ato sunshine upon fair days, and
scuttling back with them the minute
.he sky Is overcast Upon tickle
April day the eggs may be moved half
> dozen times. They are nearly as re-
sardful Of the aphis eggs. Indeed,
throughout, they protect their mich
kline, shelter them well and take pains
II rearing their young.
i5elves az early discoverers Of the
llX-ray and Its mysterious powers. Sir
| John Lubbock experimental exhaust
9vely as to- the effect OF colored light
Upon ants In captivity. He laid strips
" cOlored glass over the nests. first
f3utting the ant eggs all under one spe.
Hal color. In the end he determined
hat the ants did not much mind red
light. that green light was also. in a
measure, innOcuous. but that invarf-
lbly the eggs were hustled from ,r-
lerneath the violet raya Tn M ,oo..