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Hartfield July 30. 1860. Slave ants Ch. X. (1)

I remember seeing at Moor Park, slave-makers haunting day after day old nests of F. nigra the slave.—

Day before yesterday I saw slave-makers attacking a nest & killing the slaves & carrying off corpses.— Yet The slaves ran unconcernedly amongst the villains. The nest was a conjoined one of F. fusca & F. flava—

This day 30th 5 P.m (a) at 30 yds distance from nest of F. sanguinea— found great mound of F. flava—, actually alive with these little ants crawling about, & this ant generally does not show much— This ground surface was in part yellow also, with dead bodies, so that wet stick brought up numbers, as none of these even twitched their limbs & yet looked fresh, the battle probably has been of more than one days' duration— About 50 or 100 of Slave-makers

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(a) As dead bodies are apparently removed by F. flava— all the corpses due to this (30th) day's action, which probably began in morning, if not on previous day.—

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were on side fighting with the yellow ones; they seemed to be cruelly punished, often writhing writhing & falling off the heath with their struggle with F. flava.—

As soon as killed they were carried off by the scores, to the nest — whole 30 yd a file of returning ants — It was clear that they were rather beaten off as they did not reenter in center of nest, where there were hundreds of dead bodies. They got no pupæ. Whilst I watched the battle veered round rather to one side of nest & F. flava came on to attack.—

This curious case, as I believe F. sanguinea was afraid of this species.—

In this foray there were many small slave-makers, whether the very smallest I doubt; but certainly not exclusively the largest

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31" 10 A.M. The Battle rages, perhaps resumed.

F. flava certainly induced — immeasurable corpses disappeared, probably carried away by their brothers for they do carry them. When I arrived the villains were making dashes across whole nest; after 1/2 hour F. flava were making attacks & slave-makers were on outskirts & being attacked— Long file of corpses being carried by slave-makers.

I saw one F. sanguinea very likely make a dash to seize a fusca & get caught by 2 or 3; & plenty of other F. flava secured swarm of advantage & carried him & in under 10 minutes was dead.— I saw one another dead F. sanguinea carried him to own nest.—

I found 2 other nests of F. flava being attacked, by a dozen or score: they were wandering about & entering downways & carried off a few of F. flava; but their nest presented a very different appearance & did not swarm with ants F. flava— attack I presume much less serious.— 5.40 Battle over— no Red ants— a good many yellow wandering over nest.

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Hartfield

Slave ants.

Dull lowering morning

Wednesday Aug. 1. visited at 10° 35' nest of vis F. flava— all dead quiet & all dead bodies which I saw last night removed.

at 11° 5' a few 4 or 5 slave-makers were wandering near & occasionally running over nest.—

11° 15' many more were coming up scattered along the road--

Aug 1'— (One of other nests, of F. flava mentioned yesterday, had at 10° 25' a score of slave makers rambling over it; & these increased in number in 1/2 hour.— They ran about & scratched here & there at small orifices & occasionally carried away a fragment in a senseless manner.—

This same nest at 3. P.m. There were now only about 12 or 15 ants all large-sized (I have noticed in other cases also the scouts seemed large) & they were working systematically as sappers & miners

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so that surface of nest presented different appearance Twice as is was They brought out many large fragments of earth & carried them some way & dropped them; they often carried them to a foolish distance.

Twice they encountered little yellow ants in their passages (for none were outside nests) & one they let go, the others they killed, but did not carry off, as they knew their work was sappers & miners. The day before Yesterday 31' the ants which I saw must have been scouts.—

The 1st on Battle nests had 2 or 3 rogues haunting about but all quiet. I saw one dead body being carried away along line of march.—

Sunday Aug 5'. Emma went to the second nest & saw a a dozen slave-makers scratching in same senseless way: she turned up nest a few yellow ones came out & were killed but not carried away—

Aug 11' again a few slave makers scratching at nest.—

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Aug 11' Elizabeth stirred up 1' nest & the nest seemed deserted— whether all killed or all migrated?