Richmond daily palladium., 1901-11-12
ANTS RESEMBLE MEN
MUCH THAT IS HUMAN aScuT THESE
LITTLE INSECTS.
Their Ways of Playing. Sleeping
Eating and wortin=-Sotre Paat
Are Above Toll - Distine. ions of
Class In fheir DariaI PIae~...


There is q lot that is human about
these little ants" writes Harvey Sutn
erland in AinsIee's- They Ike 10 pay
and cut up. They make believe TO tight
and when tl-ey wrestle IN fun they roll
all around Ike schoolboys- They WASH
and brush each other and stretch out
under the process as much as 10 say
My. that feels good" When they sleeEs
they often lie on their sides and some-
times squat down on their abdomen
and the last pair of legs for all the
world like man taking u nap. When
they wake up. they cape and stretch
themselves and all but say, 'Ho, hCm.
They always wash themselves and
comb their hair as soon as they get up.
They are like us in keeping pets
aboutthe house. Andre counted oSf spe-
cies of insects. nearly all of them bee
ties, that are habitually TO be found in
ants nests. They must be there with
their consent. for an interloper is in
stantly killed. Some of them are milk
cattle. like the aphides, such as cater
pillars that give sirup and the little
blind beetle claviGer. which secretes
honey from a tuft at the base of its
wings. If one of these clavigers is put
into the nest of strange ants they fall
upon it and slaughter it at once. Some
kinds of wood lice are kept as scaven-
gers. and the silverfish or bristletail
and the larva of the elater beetle are
handy TO have around 10 do the heavy
digging under the supervision of the
workers. Many of these domestieated
animals are unable TO feed themselves.
Lespes saw some ants eating sugar. a
lomechuSa of their nest came up and
nuZZled them until they fed it. After
ward il climbed up on the lump of sug-
ar, but did not seem TO know how TO
get the good of it for itself. But also
there are pets about which are as use
less as a pug dog, if another such
thing In the universe can be imagined.
The little Stenamma westwoodii pranks
about in the hills Of Formica rufa and
them. jumps on their backs and takes
a ride, and If for any reason the nest
is removed it goes along.
1Een there Is aDOtneE little ant III
these nests that is by no means pet
1t digs its galleries in the partitions SO
small that the big ants cannot get i'll
to kill them. Every once in awhile a
1 Salenopsis fugaX darts out. snatches
up baby and runs with it into its
den, where it eats ii up. 1t is as if we
had cannibal dwarfs lurking in the
walls and now and then carrying off
one off the children to be devor%ad at
horrid banquets behind the plastering.
'tBua If we begin calling hard names
we mEht as we'll keep it up and admit
/ first az last that all ants are cannibals
and feed not only on other kinds of
! ants, Nut even upon their own species
1 whei Iley are not of the same house
! hold. \ They capture and carry off the
/ eggs. 5.rva and pupR of other nests.
/ and Wat they do not have for dinner
! today hey fatten for tomorrow. 1t is
| supposed that in this way they got into
/ the habit of keeping slaves. The young
I captive ants came out of their cocoon s
/ and, being naturally industrious. they
/ hustled about and gave the babies
/ their nimmy nimmy when they cried
! for it, swept the floor and carried III
the coal until the approving workers
I of the captors began to talk to each
/ other like this: That fusca is a handy
/ little thing about the house. Seems a
kind of pity to kill her when we've got
so much fresh meat on hand and right
in the busy season. when help is hard
to get She's so good to the children
too. Let's keep her awhile. What dc
you say?' And then when it was de
51I aff do ha
went to the fusca and said. 'Fusca
We've concluded not to Kill you for a
/ spell yet You can stay around and
do up the work. but mind. if there are
any complaints about you or the chill
dren are neglected or you give any oi
your back talk-well. there'll be fresf
meat for supper. Do you understand Z
"And the fusca dropped a courtesy
and made answer: 'Yaiss, missy. Tanl
yo' missy. Ah'll do de bes' ah kin.
1t is almost needless to say that +
fusca is a black ant
-. sanguineas can do their owr
work and often do not keep slaves al
all. but they are little thought of in an
] circles The real nobility and gentry
are Polyergus rufescens and Polyergu'
lucidus. Work? They work? No. in
deed, You don't see them demeanin:
! themselves building and minding chill
dren. collecting food or even feedin:
/ themselves. if you please. When tn,
nest is changed. they do not set foot Il
the ground They are carried b,
/ slaves. They have always been accus
toned to having help about the house
But they can fight. Their mandible
are fit only to crush other ants heads
j ANTS have cemeteries. and it is char
acteristic of them that the slaves ar
not buried with their masters. but il
another place. over by the back fenc
among the ragweeds and burdocks."