_Atta barbara_, _Formica cruentata_, _F. erratica_, and especially _Myrmica cæspitum_ may sometimes be seen fighting in this desperate fashion. Rival colonies of _Myrmica cæspitum_ often gather for the battle into dense masses three or four inches deep, and the place of conflict will be seen on the following day strewn with the dead, and this though the majority of the slain are carried off for food by the victors. But the most singular contests are those which are waged for seeds by _A. barbara_, when one colony plunders the stores of an adjacent nest belonging to the same species, the weaker nest making prolonged though, for the most part, inefficient attempts to recover their property. In the case of the other species of ant which I have watched fighting, the strife would last but a short time--a few hours or a day--but _A. barbara_ will carry on the battle day after day and week after week. I was able to devote a good deal of time to watching the progress of a predatory war of this kind, waged by one nest of _barbara_ against another, and which lasted for forty-six days, from Jan. 18 to March 4! I cannot of course declare positively that no cessation of hostilities may have taken place during the time, but I can affirm that whenever I visited the spot, and I did so on twelve days, or as nearly as possible, twice a week, the scene was one of war and spoliation such as that which I shall now describe. An active train of ants, nearly resembling an ordinary harvesting train, led from the entrance of one nest to that of another lower down the slope, and fifteen feet distant; but on closer examination it appeared that though the great mass of seed-bearers were travelling towards the upper nest, some few were going in the opposite direction and making for the lower. Besides this, at intervals, combats might be seen taking place, one ant seizing the free end of a seed carried by another, and endeavouring to wrench it away, and then frequently, as neither would let go, the stronger ant would drag seed and opponent towards its nest. At times other ants would interfere and seize one of the combatants and endeavour to drag it away, this often resulting in terrible mutilations, and especially in the loss of the abdomen, which would be torn off while the jaws of the victim retained their indomitable bull-dog grip upon the seed. Then the victor might be seen dragging away his prize, while its adversary, though now little more than a head and legs, offered a vigorous though of course ineffectual resistance. I frequently observed that the ants during these conflicts would endeavour to seize one another's antennæ, and that if this were effected, the ant thus assaulted would instantly release his hold, whether of seed or adversary, and appear utterly discomfited. No doubt the antennæ are their most sensitive parts, and injuries inflicted on these organs cause the greatest pain.