y.[63]

[61] _Nature_, 11th June 1874. And see Appendix.

[62] _Naturalist in Nicaragua_, 2nd edition, 1888, pp. 71-84.

[63] For a brief discussion of the relation of ants to
plants generally, see Lubbock's _Ants, Bees, and Wasps_,
1882, chap. iii.

_Domestic animals of Ants._--Following through different species the
perfection reached in the art of laying up provisions for the future,
we have gradually arrived at methods resembling those of Man. But a
foresight still greater and nearer to his is manifested by those ants
who breed and keep near them animals of different species, not for the
sake of their flesh, but for certain secretions, just as man utilises
the milk of the cow or the goat. Ants have true domestic animals
belonging to a variety of species, but the most widely spread are the
_Claviger_ and the Aphides or plant-lice. To keep these insects at
their disposal, Hymenoptera act in various ways: some, who are a
little experienced, are content to take advantage of a free aphis
which chance may put in their way; others shut up their cattle in
stables situated in the midst of the ant-hill, or else pen them in the
country at a spot where they can best find their food. These facts
have long since been carefully studied and leave no room for doubt.

The _Claviger testaceus_ is a small beetle, often met in the dwellings
of ants. Nature has not been very generous on its behalf. It is blind,
and its eyes are indeed altogether atrophied. The elytra are soldered
at the median edge, so that it cannot spread its wings to fly. It is
an animal predestined to the yoke; and for the rest its masters treat
it with extreme kindness. The yellow ants, according to Mueller,[64]
have reduced this outcast beetle to domesticity, and it is almost a
piece of good fortune for him to have lost his freedom and to have
gained in exchange a shelter and a well-furnished trough. These
insects are in fact cared for by their masters, who feed them by
disgorging into their mouths the sweet liquids they have gathered here
and there. If a nest is disturbed the ants hasten to carry their eggs
and larvae out of danger; they display the same solicitude with regard
to the _Claviger_, and carefully bear them to the depth of their
galleries. It must not be believed that the practical insect takes so
much care in order to repair the injustice of nature towards the
beetle; the part of a devoted sick nurse would not suit him; h