Chapter VI: Part 6

ANT (O. Eng. _aemete_, from Teutonic a, privative, and _maitan_, cut or bite off, i.e. "the biter off"; _aemete_ in Middle English became differentiated in dialect use to _amete_, then _amte_, and so _ant_, and also to _emete_, whence the synonym "emmet," now only used provincially, "ant" being the general literary form). The fact that the name of the ant has come down in English from a thousand years ago shows that this class of insects impressed the old inhabitants of England as they impressed the Hebrews and Greeks. The social instincts and industrious habits of ants have always made them favourite objects of study, and a vast amount of literature has accumulated on the subject of their structure and their modes of life.

_Characters._--An ant is easily recognized both by the casual observer and by the student of insects. Ants form a distinct and natural family (_Formicidae_) of the great order _Hymenoptera_, to which bees, wasps and sawflies also belong. The insects of this order have mandibles adapted for biting, and two pairs of membranous wings are usually present; the first abdominal segment (propodeum) becomes closely associated with the fore-body (thorax), of which it appears to form a part. In all ants the second (apparently the first) abdominal segment is very markedly constricted at its front and hind edges, so that it forms a "node" at the base of the hind-body (fig. 1), and in many ants the third abdominal segment is similarly "nodular" in form (fig. 3, _b, c._). It is this peculiar "waist" that catches the eye of the observer, and makes the insects so easy of recognition. Another conspicuous and well-known feature of ants is the wingless condition of the "workers," as the specialized females, with undeveloped ovaries, which form the largest proportion of the population of ant-communities, are called. Such "workers" are essential to the formation of a social community of Hymenoptera, and their wingless condition among the ants shows that their specialization has been carried further in this family than among the wasps and bees. Further, while among wasps and bees we find some solitary and some social genera, the ants as a family are social, though some aberrant species are dependent on the workers of other ants. It is interesting and suggestive that in a few families of digging Hymenoptera (such as the _Mutillidae_), allied to the ants, the females are wingless. The perfect female or "queen" ants (figs. 1, 1, 3, a) often cast their wings (fig. 3, b) after the nuptial flight; in a few species the females, and in still fewer the males, never develop wings. (For the so-called "white ants," which belong to an order far removed from the _Hymenoptera_, see TERMITE.)

_Structure._--The head of an ant carries a pair of elbowed feelers, each consisting of a minute basal and an elongate second segment, forming the stalk or "scape," while from eight to eleven short segments make up the terminal "flagellum." These segments are abundantly supplied with elongate tooth-like projections connected with nerve-endings probably olfactory in function. The brain is well developed and its "mushroom-bodies" are exceptionally large. The mandibles, which are frequently used for carrying various objects, are situated well to the outside of the maxillae, so that they can be opened and shut without interfering with the latter. The peculiar form and arrangement of the anterior abdominal segments have already been described. The fourth abdominal segment is often very large, and forms the greater part of the hind-body; this segment is markedly constricted at its basal (forward) end, where it is embraced by the small third segment. In many of those ants whose third abdominal segment forms a second "node," the basal dorsal region of the fourth segment is traversed by a large number of very fine transverse striations; over these the sharp hinder edge of the third segment can be scraped to and fro, and the result is a stridulating organ which gives rise to a note of very high pitch. For the appreciation of the sounds made by these stridulators, the ants are furnished with delicate organs of hearing (chordotonal organs) in the head, in the three thoracic and two of the abdominal segments and in the shins of the legs.

The hinder abdominal segments and the stings of the queens and workers resemble those of other stinging Hymenoptera. But there are several subfamilies of ants whose females have the lancets of the sting useless for piercing, although the poison-glands are functional, their secretion being ejected by the insect, when occasion may arise, from the greatly enlarged reservoir, the reduced sting acting as a squirt.

_Nests._--The nests of different kinds of ants are constructed in very different situations; many species (_Lasius_, for example) make underground nests; galleries and chambers being hollowed out in the soil, and opening by small holes on the surface, or protected above by a large stone. The wood ant (_Formica rufa_, fig. 1) piles up a heap of leaves, twigs and other vegetable refuse, so arranged as to form an orderly series of galleries, though the structure appears at first sight a chaotic heap. Species of _Camponotus_ and many other ants tunnel in wood. In tropical countries ants sometimes make their nests in the hollow thorns of trees or on leaves; species with this habit are believed to make a return to the tree for the shelter that it affords by protecting it from the ravages of other insects, including their own leaf-cutting relations.

_Early Stages._--The larvae of ants (fig. 3, e) are legless and helpless maggots with very small heads (fig. 3, f), into whose mouths the requisite food has to be forced by the assiduous "nurse" workers. The maggots are tended by these nurses with the greatest care, and carried to those parts of the nest most favourable for their health and growth. When fully grown, the maggot spins an oval silken cocoon within which it pupates (fig. 3, g). These cocoons, which may often be seen carried between the mandibles of the workers, are the "ants' eggs" prized as food for fish and pheasants. The workers of a Ceylonese ant (_Oecophylla smaragdina_) are stated by D. Sharp to hold the maggots between their mandibles and induce them to spin together the leaves of trees from which they form their shelters, as the adult ants have no silk-producing organs.

_Origin of Societies._--Ant-colonies are founded either by a single female or by several in association. The foundress of the nest lays eggs and at first feeds and rears the larvae, the earliest of which develop into workers. C. Janet observed that in a nest of _Lasius alienus_, established by a single female, the first workers emerged from their cocoons on the 102nd day. These workers then take on themselves the labour of the colony, some collecting food, which they transfer to their comrades within the nest whose duty is to tend and feed the larvae. The foundress-queen is now waited on by the workers, who supply her with food and spare her all cares of work, so that henceforth she may devote her whole energies to egg-laying. The population of the colony increases fast, and a well-grown nest contains several "queens" and males, besides a large number of workers. One of the most interesting features of ant-societies is the dimorphism or polymorphism that may often be seen among the workers, the same species being represented by two or more forms. Thus the British "wood ant" (_Formica rufa_) has a smaller and a larger race of workers ("minor" and "major" forms), while in _Ponera_ we find a blind race of workers and another race provided with eyes, and in _Atta_, _Eciton_ and other genera, four or five forms of workers are produced, the largest of which, with huge heads and elongate trenchant mandibles, are known as the "soldier" caste. The development of such diversely-formed insects as the offspring of the unmodified females which show none of their peculiarities raises many points of difficulty for students in heredity. It is thought that the differences are, in part at least, due to differences in the nature of the food supplied to larvae, which are apparently all alike. But the ovaries of worker ants are in some cases sufficiently developed for the production of eggs, which may give rise parthenogenetically to male, queen or worker offspring.

_Food._--Different kinds of ants vary greatly in the substances which they use for food. Honey forms the staple nourishment of many ants, some of the workers seeking nectar from flowers, working it up into honey within their stomachs and regurgitating it so as to feed their comrades within the nest, who, in their turn, pass it on to the grubs. A curious specialization of certain workers in connexion with the transference of honey has been demonstrated by H.C. McCook in the American genus _Myrmecocystus_, and by later observers in Australian and African species of _Plagiolepis_ and allied genera. The workers in question remain within the nest, suspended by their feet, and serve as living honey-pots for the colony, becoming so distended by the supplies of honey poured into their mouths by their foraging comrades that their abdomens become sub-globular, the pale intersegmental membrane being tightly stretched between the widely-separated dark sclerites. The "nurse" workers in the nest can then draw their supplies from these "honey-pots." Very many ants live by preying upon various insects, such as the British "red ants" with well-developed stings (_Myrmica rubra_), and the notorious "driver ants" of Africa and America, the old-world species of which belong to _Dorylus_ and allied genera, and the new-world species to _Eciton_ (fig. 2, _2, 3_). In these ants the difference between the large, heavy, winged males and females, and the small, long-legged, active workers, is so great, that various forms of the same species have been often referred to distinct genera; in _Eciton_, for example, the female has a single petiolate abdominal segment, the worker two. The workers of these ants range over the country in large armies, killing and carrying off all the insects and spiders that they find and sometimes attacking vertebrates. They have been known to enter human dwellings, removing all the verminous insects contained therein. These driver ants shelter in temporary nests made in hollow trees or similar situations, where the insects may be seen, according to T. Belt, "clustered together in a dense mass like a great swarm of bees hanging from the roof."

The harvesting habits of certain ants have long been known, the subterranean store-houses of Mediterranean species of _Aphaenogaster_ having been described by J.T. Moggridge and A. Forel, and the complex industries of the Texan _Pogonomyrmex barbatus_ by H.C. McCook and W.M. Wheeler. The colonies of _Aphaenogaster_ occupy nests extending over an area of fifty to a hundred square yards several feet below the surface of the ground. Into these underground chambers the ants carry seeds of grasses and other plants of which they accumulate large stores. The species of _Pogonomyrmex_ strip the husks from the seeds and carry them out of the nest, making a refuse heap near the entrance. The seeds are harvested from various grasses, especially from _Aristida oligantha_, a species known as "ant rice," which often grows in quantity close to the site selected for the nest, but the statement that the ants deliberately sow this grass is an error, due, according to Wheeler, to the sprouting of germinating seeds which the ants have turned out of their store-chambers.

Perhaps no ants have such remarkable habits as those of the genus _Atta_,--the leaf-cutting ants of tropical America (fig. 2, 1). There are several forms of worker in these species, some with enormous heads, which remain in the underground nests, while their smaller comrades scour the country in search of suitable trees, which they ascend, biting off small circular pieces from the leaves, and carrying them off to the nests. Their labour often results in the complete defoliation of the tree. The tracks along which the ants carry the leaves to their nests are often in part subterranean. H.C. McCook describes an almost straight tunnel, nearly 450 ft. long, made by _Atta fervens_.

Within the nest, the leaves are cut into very minute fragments and gathered into small spherical heaps forming a spongy mass, which--according to the researches of A. Moller--serves as the substratum for a special fungus (_Rozites gongylophora_), the staple food of the ants. The insects cultivate their fungus, weeding out mould and bacterial growths, and causing the appearance, on the surface of their "mushroom garden," of numerous small white bodies formed by swollen ends of the fungus hyphae. When the fungus is grown elsewhere than in the ants' nest it produces gonidia instead of the white masses on which the ants feed, hence it seems that these masses are indeed produced as the result of some unknown cultural process. Other genera of South American ants--_Apterostigma_ and _Cyphomyrmex_--make similar fungal cultivations, but they use wood, grain or dung as the substratum instead of leaf fragments. Each kind of ant is so addicted to its own particular fungal food that it refuses disdainfully, even when hungry, the produce of an alien nest.

_Guests of Ants._--Many ants feed largely and some almost entirely on the saccharine secretions of other insects, the best known of which are the Aphides (plant-lice or "green-fly"). This consideration leads us to one of the most remarkable and fascinating features of ant-communities--the presence in the nests of insects and other small arthropods, which are tended and cared for by the ants as their "guests," rendering to the ants in return the sweet food which they desire. The relation between ants and aphids has often been compared to that between men and milch cattle. Sir J. Lubbock (Lord Avebury) states that the common British yellow ants (_Lasius flavus_) collect flocks of root-feeding aphids in their underground nests, protect them, build earthen shelters over them, and take the greatest care of their eggs. Other ants, such as the British black garden species (_L. niger_), go after the aphids that frequent the shoots of plants. Many species of aphid migrate from one plant to another at certain stages in their life-cycle when their numbers have very largely increased, and F.M. Webster has observed ants, foreseeing this emigration, to carry aphids from apple trees to grasses. It has been shown by M. Busgen that the sweet secretion (honey-dew) of the aphids is not derived, as generally believed, from the paired cornicles on the fifth abdominal segment, but from the intestine, whence it exudes in drops and is swallowed by the ants.

Besides the aphids, other insects, such as scale insects (_Coccidae_), caterpillars of blue butterflies (_Lycaenidae_), and numerous beetles, furnish the ants with nutrient secretions. The number of species of beetles that inhabit ants' nests is almost incredibly large, and most of these are never found elsewhere, being blind, helpless and dependent on the ants' care for protection and food; these beetles belong for the most part to the families _Pselaphidae, Paussidae_ and _Staphylinidae_. Spring-tails and bristle-tails (order _Aptera_) of several species also frequent ants' nests. While some of these "guest" insects produce secretions that furnish the ants with food, some seem to be useless inmates of the nest, obtaining food from the ants and giving nothing in return. Others again play the part of thieves in the ant society; C. Janet observed a small bristle-tail (_Lepismima_) to lurk beneath the heads of two Lasius workers, while one passed food to the other, in order to steal the drop of nourishment and to make off with it. The same naturalist describes the association with Lasius of small mites (_Antennophorus_) which are carried about by the worker ants, one of which may have a mite beneath her mouth, and another on either side of her abdomen. On patting their carrier or some passing ant, the mites are supplied with food, no service being rendered by them in return for the ants' care. Perhaps the ants derive from these seemingly useless guests the same satisfaction as we obtain by keeping pet animals. Recent advance in our knowledge of the guests and associates of ants is due principally to E. Wasmann, who has compiled a list of nearly 1500 species of insects, arachnids and crustaceans, inhabiting ants' nests. The warmth, shelter and abundant food in the nests, due both to the fresh supplies brought in by the ants and to the large amount of waste matter that accumulates, must prove strongly attractive to the various "guests." Some of the inmates of ants' nests are here for the purpose of preying upon the ants or their larvae, so that we find all kinds of relations between the owners of the nests and their companions, from mutual benefit to active hostility.

Among these associations or guests other species of ants are not wanting. For example, a minute species (_Solenopsis fugax_) lives in a compound nest with various species of _Formica_, forming narrow galleries which open into the larger galleries of its host. The _Solenopsis_ can make its way into the territory of the _Formica_ to steal the larvae which serve it as food, but the _Formica_ is too large to pursue the thief when it returns to its own galleries.

_Slaves._--Several species of ants are found in association with another species which stands to them in the relation of slave to master. _Formica sanguinea_ is a well-known European slave-making ant that inhabits England; its workers raid the nests of _F. fusca_ and other species, and carry off to their own nests pupae from which workers are developed that live contentedly as slaves of their captors. _F. sanguinea_ can live either with or without slaves, but another European ant (_Polyergus rufescens_) is so dependent on its slaves--various species of _Formica_--that its workers are themselves unable to feed the larvae. The remarkable genus _Anergates_ has no workers, and its wingless males and females are served by communities of _Tetramorium cespitum_ (fig. 3).

_Senses and Intelligence of Ants._--That ants possess highly developed senses and the power of communicating with one another has long been known to students of their habits; the researches of P. Huber and Sir J. Lubbock (Lord Avebury) on these subjects are familiar to all naturalists. The insects are guided by light, being very sensitive to ultra-violet rays, and also by scent and hearing. Recent experiments by A.M. Fielde show that an ant follows her own old track by a scent exercised by the tenth segment of the feeler, recognizes other inmates of her nest by a sense of smell resident in the eleventh segment, is guided to the eggs, maggots and pupae, which she has to tend, by sensation through the eighth and ninth segments, and appreciates the general smell of the nest itself by means of organs in the twelfth segment. Lubbock's experiments of inducing ants to seek objects that had been removed show that they are guided by scent rather than by sight, and that any disturbance of their surroundings often causes great uncertainty in their actions. Ants invite one another to work, or ask for food from one another, by means of pats with the feelers; and they respond to the solicitations of their guest--beetles or mites, who ask for food by patting the ants with their feet. In all probability the actions of ants are for the most part instinctive or reflex, and some observers, such as A. Bethe, deny them all claim to psychical qualities. But it seems impossible to doubt that in many cases ants behave in a manner that must be considered intelligent, that they can learn by experience and that they possess memory. Lubbock goes so far as to conclude the account of his experiments with the remark that "It is difficult altogether to deny them the gift of reason ... their mental powers differ from those of men, not so much in kind as in degree." Wasmann considers that ants are neither miniature human beings nor mere reflex automata, and most students of their habits will probably accept this intermediate position as the most satisfactory. C.L. Morgan sums up a discussion on Lubbock's experiments in which the ants failed to utilize particles of earth for bridge-making, with the suggestive remark that "What these valuable experiments seem to show is that the ant, probably the most intelligent of all insects, has no claim to be regarded as a rational being." Nevertheless, ants can teach "rational beings" many valuable lessons.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--The literature on ants is so vast that it is only
possible to refer the reader to a few of the most important works on
the family. Pierre Huber's _Traite des moeurs des fourmis indigenes_
(Geneve, 1810) is the most famous of the older memoirs. H.W. Bates, _A
Naturalist on the Amazons_; T. Belt, _A Naturalist in Nicaragua_; H.C.
McCook, _Agricultural Ant of Texas_ (Philadelphia, 1880); and A.
Moller's paper in _Botan. Mitt, aus den Tropen_, (1893), contain
classical observations on American species. Sir J. Lubbock's (Lord
Avebury) _Ants, Bees and Wasps_ (London 1882), dealing with British
and European species, has been followed by numerous important papers
by A. Forel and C. Emery in various Swiss and German periodicals, and
especially by C. Janet in his _Etudes sur les fourmis, les guepes et
les abeilles_ (Paris, &c., 1893-1904). Forel (_Ann. Soc. Ent. Belg._
xlvii., 1893, _Journ. Bomnay N.H. Soc._ 1900-1903, and _Biologia Cent.
Americana_) and Emery (_Zool. Jahrb. Syst._ viii., 1896) have written
on the classification of the _Formicidae_. Among recent American
writers on habit may be mentioned W.M. Wheeler (_American Naturalist_,
1900-1902) and A.M. Fielde (_Proc. Acad. Sci. Philadelphia_, 1901); E.
Wasmann (_Kritisches Verzeichniss der myrmecophilen und termitophilen
Arthropoden_, Berlin, 1894, and _3^me Congres Intern. Zool._ 1895) is
the great authority on ant-guests and associates. D. Sharp's general
account of ants in the _Cambridge Nat. Hist_. (vol. vi., 1898) is
excellent. For discussions on intelligence see A. Bethe, _Journ. f. d.
ges. Physiol._ lxx. (1898); Wasmann, _Die psychischen Fahigkeiten der
Ameisen_ (Stuttgart, 1899); C. Ll. Morgan, _Animal Behaviour_ (London,
1900.) (G. H. C.)

ANTAE (a Lat. plural word, possibly from _ante_, before), an architectural term given to slightly projecting pilaster strips which terminate the winged walls of the naos of a Greek temple. They owe their origin to the vertical posts of timber employed in the primitive palaces or temples of Greece, as at Tiryns and in the Heraeum at Olympia, to carry the roof timbers, as no reliance could be placed on the walls built with unburnt brick or in rubble masonry with clay mortar. When between these winged walls there are columns to carry the architrave, so as to form a porch, the latter is said to be in-antis. (See TEMPLE.)

ANTAEUS, in Greek mythology, a giant of Libya, the son of Poseidon and Gaea. He compelled all strangers passing through the country to wrestle with him, and as, when thrown, he derived fresh strength from each successive contact with his mother earth, he proved invincible. With the skulls of those whom he had slain he built a temple to his father. Heracles, in combat with him, discovered the source of his strength, and lifting him up from the earth crushed him to death (Apollodorus ii. 5; Hyginus, _Fab_. 31). The struggle between Antaeus and Heracles is a favourite subject in ancient sculpture.

ANTALCIDAS, Spartan soldier and diplomatist. In 393 (or 392 B.C.) he was sent to Tiribazus, satrap of Sardis, to undermine the friendly relations then existing between Athens and Persia by offering to recognize Persian claims to the whole of Asia Minor. The Athenians sent an embassy under Conon to counteract his efforts. Tiribazus, who was favourable to Sparta, threw Conon into prison, but Artaxerxes II. (Mnemon) disapproved and recalled his satrap. In 388 Antalcidas, then commander of the Spartan fleet, accompanied Tiribazus to the Persian court, and secured the active assistance of Persia against Athens. The success of his naval operations in the neighbourhood of the Hellespont was such that Athens was glad to accept terms of peace (the "Peace of Antalcidas"), by which (1) the whole of Asia Minor, with the islands of Clazomenae and Cyprus, was recognized as subject to Persia, (2) all other Greek cities--so far as they were not under Persian rule--were to be independent, except Lemnos, Imbros and Scyros, which were to belong, as formerly, to the Athenians. The terms were announced to the Greek envoys at Sardis in the winter 387-386, and were finally accepted by Sparta in 386. Antalcidas continued in favour with Artaxerxes, until the annihilation of Spartan supremacy at Leuctra diminished his influence. A final mission to Persia, probably in 367, was a failure, and Antalcidas, deeply chagrined and fearful of the consequences, is said to have starved himself to death. (See SPARTA.)

ANTANANARIVO, i.e. "town of a thousand" (Fr. spelling _Tananarive_), the capital of Madagascar, situated centrally as regards the length of the island, but only about 90 m. distant from the eastern coast, in 18 deg. 55' S., 47 deg. 30' E. It is 135 m. W.S.W. of Tamatave, the principal seaport of the island, with which it is connected by railway, and for about 60 m. along the coast lagoons, a service of small steamers. The city occupies a commanding position, being chiefly built on the summit and slopes of a long and narrow rocky ridge, which extends north and south for about 2-1/2 m., dividing to the north in a Y-shape, and rising at its highest point to 690 ft. above the extensive rice plain to the west, which is itself 4060 ft. above sea-level. For long only the principal village of the Hova chiefs, Antananarivo advanced in importance as those chiefs made themselves sovereigns of the greater part of Madagascar, until it became a town of some 80,000 inhabitants. Until 1869 all buildings within the city proper were of wood or rush, but even then it possessed several timber palaces of considerable size, the largest being 120 ft. high. These crown the summit of the central portion of the ridge; and the largest palace, with its lofty roof and towers, is the most conspicuous object from every point of view. Since the introduction of stone and brick, the whole city has been rebuilt and now contains numerous structures of some architectural pretension, the royal palaces, the houses formerly belonging to the prime minister and nobles, the French residency, the Anglican and Roman Catholic cathedrals, several stone churches, as well as others of brick, colleges, schools, hospitals, courts of justice and other government buildings, and hundreds of good dwelling-houses. Since the French conquest in 1895 good roads have been constructed throughout the city, broad flights of steps connect places too steep for the formation of carriage roads, and the central space, called Andohalo, has become a handsome _place_, with walks and terraces, flower-beds and trees. A small park has been laid out near the residency, and the planting of trees and the formation of gardens in various parts of the city give it a bright and attractive appearance. Water is obtained from springs at the foot of the hill, but it is proposed to bring an abundant supply from the river Ikopa, which skirts the capital to the south and west. The population, including that of the suburbs, is 69,000 (1907). The city is guarded by two forts built on hills to the east and south-west respectively. Including an Anglican and a Roman Catholic cathedral, there are about fifty churches in the city and its suburbs, as well as a Mahommedan mosque. (J. Si.*)

'ANTARA IBN SHADDAD, Arabian poet and warrior of the 6th century, was famous both for his poetry and his adventurous life. His chief poem is contained in the _Mo'allakat_. The account of his life forms the basis of a long and extravagant romance. His father Shaddad was a soldier, his mother Zabuba a negro slave. Neglected at first, he soon claimed attention and respect for himself, and by his remarkable personal qualities and courage in battle he gained his freedom and the acknowledgment of his father. He took part in the great war between the related tribes of Abs and Dhubyan, which began over a contest of horses and was named after them the war of Dahis and Ghabra. He died in a fight against the tribe of Tai. His poems, which are chiefly concerned with fighting or with his love for Abla, are published in W. Ahlwardt's _The Diwans of the six ancient Arabic Poets_ (London, 1870); they have also been published separately at Beirut (1888). As regards their genuineness, cf. W. Ahlwardt's _Bemerkungen uber die Aechtheit der alten arabichen Gedichte_ (Greifswald, 1872), pp. 50 ff. _The Romance of 'Antar_ (Sirat 'Antar ibn Shaddad) is a work which was long handed down by oral tradition only, has grown to immense proportions and has been published in 32 vols. at Cairo, 1307 (A.D. 1889), and in 10 vols. at Beirut, 1871. It was partly translated by Terrick Hamilton under the title _'Antar, a Bedoueen Romance_ (4 vols., London, 1820).

For an account of the poet and his works see H. Thorbeckes, _Antarah,
ein vorislamischer Dichter_ (Leipzig, 1867), and cf. the _Book of
Songs_ (see ABULFARAJ), vol. vii. pp. 148-153. (G. W. T.)

ANTARCTIC (Gr. [Greek: anti], opposite, and [Greek: arktos], the Bear, the northern constellation of _Ursa Major_), the epithet applied to the region (including both the ocean and the lands) round the South Pole. The Antarctic circle is drawn at 66 deg. 30' S., but polar conditions of climate, &c., extend considerably north of the area thus enclosed. (See POLAR REGIONS.)

ANTEATER, a term applied to several mammals, but (zoologically at any rate) specially indicating the tropical American anteaters of the family _Myrmecophagidae_ (see EDENTATA). The typical and largest representative of the group is the great anteater or ant-bear (_Myrmecophaga jubata_), an animal measuring 4 ft. in length without the tail, and 2 ft. in height at the shoulder. Its prevailing colour is grey, with a broad black band, bordered with white, commencing on the chest, and passing obliquely over the shoulder, diminishing gradually in breadth as it approaches the loins, where it ends in a point. It is extensively distributed in the tropical parts of South and Central America, frequenting low swampy savannas, along the banks of rivers, and the depths of the humid forests, but is nowhere abundant. Its food consists mainly of termites, to obtain which it opens their nests with its powerful sharp anterior claws, and as the insects swarm to the damaged part of their dwelling, it draws them into its mouth by means of its long, flexible, rapidly moving tongue covered with glutinous saliva. The great anteater is terrestrial in habits, not burrowing underground like armadillos. Though generally an inoffensive animal, when attacked it can defend itself vigorously and effectively with its sabre-like anterior claws. The female produces a single young at a birth. The tamandua anteaters, as typified by _Tamandua_ (or _Uroleptes_) _tetradactyla_, are much smaller than the great anteater, and differ essentially from it in their habits, being mainly arboreal. They inhabit the dense primeval forests of South and Central America. The usual colour is yellowish-white, with a broad black lateral band, covering nearly the whole of the side of the body.

The little or two-toed anteater (_Cyclopes_ or _Cycloturus didactylus_) is a native of the hottest parts of South and Central America, and about the size of a rat, of a general yellowish colour, and exclusively arboreal in its habits. The name scaly anteater is applied to the pangolin (q.v.); the banded anteater (_Myrmecobius fasciatus_) is a marsupial, and the spiny anteater (_Echidna_) is one of the monotremes (see MARSUPIALIA and MONOTREMATA).

ANTE-CHAPEL, the term given to that portion of a chapel which lies on the western side of the choir screen. In some of the colleges at Oxford and Cambridge the ante-chapel is carried north and south across the west end of the chapel, constituting a western transept or narthex. This model, based on Merton College chapel (13th century), of which only chancel and transept were built though a nave was projected, was followed at Wadham, New and Magdalen Colleges, Oxford, in the new chapel of St John's College, Cambridge, and in Eton College. In Jesus College, Cambridge, the transept and a short nave constitute the ante-chapel; in Clare College an octagonal vestibule serves the same purpose; and in Christ's, Trinity and King's Colleges, Cambridge, the ante-chapel is a portion of the main chapel, divided off from the chancel by the choir screen.

ANTE-CHOIR, the term given to the space enclosed in a church between the outer gate or railing of the rood screen and the door of the screen; sometimes there is only one rail, gate or door, but in Westminster Abbey it is equal in depth to one bay of the nave. The ante-choir is also called the "fore choir."

ANTE-FIXAE (from Lat. _antefigere_, to fasten before), the vertical blocks which terminate the covering tiles of the roof of a Greek temple; as spaced they take the place of the cymatium and form a cresting along the sides of the temple. The face of the ante-fixae was richly carved with the anthemion (q.v.) ornament.

ANTELOPE, a zoological name which, so far as can be determined, appears to trace its origin, through the Latin, to _Pantholops_, the old Coptic, and _Antholops_, the late Greek name of the fabled unicorn. Its adoption by the languages of Europe cannot apparently be traced farther back than the 4th century of our era, at which date it was employed to designate an imaginary animal living on the banks of the Euphrates. By the earlier English naturalists, and afterwards by Buffon, it was, however, applied to the Indian blackbuck, which is thus entitled to rank as _the_ antelope. It follows that the subfamily typified by this species, in which are included the gazelles, is the one to which alone the term antelopes should be applied if it were employed in a restricted and definable sense.

Although most people have a general vague idea of what constitutes an "antelope," yet the group of animals thus designated is one that does not admit of accurate limitations or definition. Some, for instance, may consider that the chamois and the so-called white goat of the Rocky Mountains are entitled to be included in the group; but this is not the view held by the authors of the _Book of Antelopes_ referred to below; and, as a matter of fact, the term is only a vague designation for a number of more or less distinct groups of hollow-horned ruminants which do not come under the designation of cattle, sheep or goats; and in reality there ought to be a distinct English group-name for each subfamily into which "antelopes" are subdivided.

The great majority of antelopes, exclusive of the doubtful chamois group (which, however, will be included in the present article), are African, although the gazelles are to a considerable extent an Asiatic group. They include ruminants varying in size from a hare to an ox; and comprise about 150 species, although this number is subject to considerable variation according to personal views as to the limitations of species and races. No true antelopes are American, the prongbuck (_Antilocapra_), which is commonly called "antelope" in the United States, representing a distinct group; while, as already mentioned, the Rocky Mountain or white goat stands on the borderland between antelopes and goats.

The first group, or _Tragelaphinae_, is represented by the African elands (_Taurotragus_), bongo (_Boocercus_), kudus (_Strepsiceros_) and bushbucks or harnessed antelopes (_Tragelaphus_), and the Indian nilgai (_Boselaphus_). Except in the bongo and elands, horns are present only in the males, and these are angulated and generally spirally twisted, and without rings. The muzzle is naked, small glands are present on the face below the eyes, and the tail is comparatively long. The colours are often brilliant; white spots and stripes being prevalent. The harnessed antelopes, or bushbucks, are closely allied to the kudus, from which they chiefly differ by the spiral formed by the horns generally having fewer turns. They include some of the most brilliantly coloured of all antelopes; the ornamentation taking the form of vertical white lines and rows of spots. Usually the sexes differ in colour. Whereas most of the species have hoofs of normal shape, in some, such as the nakong, or situtunga (_Tragelaphus spekei_), these are greatly elongated, in order to be suited for walking in soft mud, and these have accordingly been separated as _Limnotragus_. The last-named species spends most of its time in water, where it may be observed not infrequently among the reeds with all but its head and horns submerged. The true or smaller bushbucks, represented by the widely spread _Tragelaphus scriptus_, with several local races (fig. 1) are sometimes separated as _Sylvicapra_, leaving the genus _Tragelaphus_ to be represented by the larger _T. angasi_ and its relatives. The genus _Strepsiceros_ is represented by the true or great kudu (_S. capensis_ or _S. strepsiceros_), fig. 2, ranging from the Cape to Somaliland, and the smaller _S. imberbis_ of North-East Africa, which has no throat-fringe. The large and brightly coloured bongo (_Boocercus euryceros_) of the equatorial forest-districts serves in some respects to connect the bushbucks with the elands, having horns in both sexes, and a tufted tail, but a brilliant orange coat with vertical white stripes. Still larger are the elands, of which the typical _Taurotragus oryx_ of the Cape is uniformly sandy-coloured, although stripes appear in the more northern _T. o. livingstonei_, while the black-necked eland (_T. derbianus_) of Senegambia and the Bahr-el-Ghazal district is a larger and more brilliantly coloured animal. The small horns and bluish-grey colour of the adult bulls serve to distinguish the Indian nilgai (q.v.), _Boselaphus tragocamdus_, from the other members of the subfamily.

The second group, which is mainly African, but also represented in Syria, is that of the _Hippotraginae_, typified by the sable antelope (_Hippotragus niger_) and roan antelope (_H. equinus_), but also including the oryxes (_Oryx_) and addax. These are for the most part large antelopes, with long cylindrical horns, which are present in both sexes, hairy muzzles, no face-glands, long tufted tails and tall thick molars of the ox-type. In _Hippotragus_ the stout and thickly ringed horns rise vertically from a ridge above the eyes at an obtuse angle to the plane of the lower part of the face, and then sweep backwards in a bold curve; while there are tufts of long white hairs near the eyes. The sable antelope is a southern species in which both sexes are black or blackish when adult, while the lighter-coloured and larger roan antelope has a much wider distribution. The South African blauwbok (_H. leucophaeus_) is extinct. In the addax (_Addax nasomaculatus_), which is a distinct species common to North Africa and Syria, the ringed horns form an open spiral ascending in the plane of the face, and there is long, shaggy, dark hair on the fore-quarters in winter. The various species of oryx differ from _Hippotragus_ by the absence of the white eye-tufts, and by the horns sloping backwards in the plane of the face. In the South African gemsbuck (_Oryx gazella_), fig. 3, the East African beisa or true oryx (_O. beisa_), and the white Arabian (_O. beatrix_) the horns are straight, but in the North African white oryx or algazel (_O. leucoryx_ or _O. algazal_) they are scimitar-shaped, the colour of this species being white and pale chestnut (see ADDAX, ORYX, and SABLE ANTELOPE).

The third subfamily is the _Antilopinae_, the members of which have a much wider geographical range than either of the foregoing groups. The subfamily is characterized by the narrow crowns of the molars, which are similar to those of sheep, and the hairy muzzle. Generally there are face-glands below the eyes; and the tail is moderate or short. Pits are present in the forehead of the skull, and the horns are ringed for part of their length, with a compressed base, their form being often lyrate, but sometimes spiral. Lateral hoofs are generally present.

Gazelles (_Gazella_), which form by far the largest genus of the subfamily, are inhabitants of open and frequently more or less desert districts. They are mostly of a sandy colour, with dark and light markings on the face, and often a dark band on the flanks. The horns are more or less lyrate, and generally developed in both sexes; there are frequently brushes of hair on the knees. Gazelles may be divided into groups. The one to which the North African _G. dorcas_ belongs is characterized by the presence of lyrate or sub-lyrate horns in both sexes, and by the white of the buttocks not extending on to the haunches. Nearly allied is the group including the Indian _G. bennetti_ and the Arabian _G. arabica_, in which the horns have a somewhat S-shaped curvature in profile. In the group represented by the African _G. granti_, _G. thomsoni_, _G. mohr_, &c., the white of the buttocks often sends a prolongation on to the flanks, the horns are long and the size is large. Lastly, the Central Asian _G. gutturosa_, _G. subgutturosa_ and _G. picticaudata_ form a group in which the females are hornless and the face-markings inconspicuous or wanting.

The South African springbuck (_Antidorcas euchore_) is nearly related to the gazelles, from which it is distinguished by the presence on the middle line of the loins of an evertible pouch, lined with long white hairs capable of erection. It has also one premolar tooth less in the lower jaw. Formerly these beautiful antelopes existed in countless numbers on the plains of South Africa, and were in the habit of migrating in droves which completely filled entire valleys. Now they are comparatively rare.

The dibatag or Clarke's gazelle (_Ammodorcas clarkei_), of Somaliland, forms a kind of connecting link between the true gazelles and the gerenuk, this being especially shown in the skull. The face has the ordinary gazelle-markings; but the rather short horns--which are wanting in the female--have a peculiar upward and forward curvature, unlike that obtaining in the gazelles and somewhat resembling that of the reedbuck. The neck is longer and more slender than in ordinary gazelles, and the tail is likewise relatively long. Although local, these animals are fairly common in the interior of Somaliland, where they are known by the name of dibatag. In running, the head and neck are thrown backwards, while the tail is turned forwards over the back.

The East African gerenuk (q.v.), or Waller's gazelle (_Lithocranius walleri_), of which two races have been named, is a very remarkable ruminant, distinguished not only by its exceedingly elongated neck and limbs, but also by the peculiar hooked form of the very massive horns of the bucks, the dense structure and straight profile of the skull, and the extreme slenderness of the lower jaw.

A still more aberrant gazelle is a small North-East African species known as the beira (_Dorcatragus melanotis_), with very short horns, large hoofs and a general appearance recalling that of some of the members of the subfamily _Neotraginae_, although in other respects gazelle-like. The blackbuck (_Antilope cervicapra_ or _A. bezoartica_) of India, a species taking its name from the deep black coat assumed by the adult bucks, and easily recognized by the graceful, spirally twisted horns ornamenting the heads of that sex, is now the sole representative of the genus _Antilope_, formerly taken to embrace the whole of the true antelopes. Large face-glands are characteristic of the species, which inhabits the open plains of India in large herds. They leap high in the air, like the springbuck, when on the move.

With the palla (q.v.), or impala (_Aepyceros melampus_), we reach an exclusively African genus, characterized by the lyrate horns of the bucks, the absence of lateral hoofs, and the presence of a pair of glands with black tufts of hair on the hind-feet.

The sheep-like saiga (q.v.), _Saiga tatarica_, of the Kirghiz steppes stands apart from all other antelopes by its curiously puffed and trunk-like nose, which can be wrinkled up when the animal is feeding and has the nostrils opening downwards. More or less nearly related to the saiga is the chiru (q.v.), _Pantholops hodgsoni_ of Tibet, characterized by the long upright black horns of the bucks, and the less convex nose, in which the nostrils open anteriorly instead of downwards.

The _Neotraginae_ (or _Nanotraginae_) form an exclusively African group of small-sized antelopes divided into several, for the most part nearly related, genera. Almost the only characters they possess in common are the short and spike-like horns of the bucks, which are ringed at the base, with smooth tips, and the large size of the face-gland, which opens by a circular aperture. _Neotragus_ is represented by the pigmy royal antelope (_N. pygmaeus_) of Guinea; _Hylarnus_ includes one species from Cameroon and a second from the Semliki forest; while _Nesotragus_ comprises the East African suni antelopes, _N. moschatus_ and _N. livingstonianus_. All three might, however, well be included in _Neotragus_. The royal antelope is the smallest of the Bovidae.

The steinbok (_Rhaphiceros campestris_) and the _grysbok_ (_R. melanotis_) are the best-known representatives of a group characterized by the vertical direction of the horns and the small gland-pit in the skull; lateral hoofs being absent in the first-named and present in the second. A bare gland-patch behind the ear serves to distinguish the oribis or ourebis, as typified by _Oribia montana_ of the Cape; lateral hoofs being present and the face-pit large.

From all the preceding the tiny dik-diks (_Madoqua_) of North-East Africa differ by their hairy noses, expanded in some species into short trunks; while the widely spread klipspringer (q.v.), _Oreotragus saltator_, with its several local races, is unfailingly distinguishable by its rounded blunt hoofs and thick, brittle, golden-flecked hair.

In some respects connecting the last group with the _Cervicaprinae_ is the rhebok, or vaal-rhebok (_Pelea capreolus_), a grey antelope of the size of a roebuck, with small upright horns in the bucks recalling those of the last group, and small lateral hoofs, but no face-glands. In size and several structural features it approximates to the more typical _Cervicaprinae_, as represented by the reedbuck (_Cervicapra_), and the waterbucks and kobs (_Cobus_ or _Kobus_), all of which are likewise African. These are medium-sized or large antelopes with naked muzzles, narrow sheep-like upper molars, fairly long tails, rudimentary or no face-glands, and pits in the frontal bones of the skull. Reedbuck (q.v.), or rietbok (_Cervicapra_), are foxy-red antelopes ranging in size from a fallow-deer to a roe, with thick bushy tails, forwardly curving black horns, and a bare patch of glandular skin behind each ear. They keep to open country near water. The waterbuck (q.v.), _Cobus_, on the other hand, actually seek refuge from pursuit in the water. They have heavily fringed necks, tufted tails, long lyrate horns in the bucks (fig. 4) but no glandular ear-patches. The true waterbuck (_C. ellipsiprymnus_), and the defassa or sing-sing (_C. defassa_), are the two largest species, equal in size to red deer, and grey or reddish in colour. Of the smaller forms or kobs, _C. maria_ and _C. leucotis_ of the swamps of the White Nile are characterized by the black coats of the adult bucks; the West African _C. cob_, and its East African representative _C. thomasi_, are wholly red antelopes of the size of roedeer; the lichi or lechwe (_C. lichi_) is characterized by its long horns, black fore-legs and superior size; while the puku (_C. vardoni_), which is also a swamp-loving species from South-Central Africa, differs from the three preceding species by the fore-legs being uniformly foxy.

[Ilustration: FIG. 4.--Waterbuck (_Cobus ellipsiprymnus_).]

The duikers, or duikerboks (_Cephalophus_), of Africa, which range in size from a large hare to a fallow-deer, typify the subfamily _Cephalophinae_, characterized by the spike-like horns of the bucks, the elongated aperture of the face-glands, the naked muzzle, the relatively short tail, and the square-crowned upper molars; lateral hoofs being present. In the duikers themselves the single pair of horns is set in the midst of a tuft of long hairs, and the face-gland opens in a long naked line on the side of the face above the muzzle. The group is represented in India by the chousingha or four-horned antelope (_Tetraceros quadricornis_), generally distinguished by the feature from which it takes its name (see DUIKER).

The last section of the true antelopes is the _Bubalinae_, represented by the hartebeest (q.v.), _Bubalis_, blesbok and sassaby (_Damaliscus_), and the gnu (q.v.) or wildebeest (_Connochaetes_, also called _Catoblepas_), all being African with the exception of one or two hartebeests which range into Syria. All these are large and generally more or less uniformly coloured antelopes with horns in both sexes, long and more or less hairy tails, high withers, small face-glands, naked muzzles, tall, narrow upper molars, and the absence of pits in the frontal bones. The long face, high crest for the horns, which are ringed, lyrate and more or less strongly angulated, and the moderately long tail, are the distinctive features of the hartebeests. They are large red antelopes (fig. 5), often with black markings on the face and limbs. In _Damaliscus_, which includes, among many other species, the blesbok and bontebok (_D. albifrons_ and _D. pygargus_) and the sassaby or bastard hartebeest (_D. lunatus_), the face is shorter, and the horns straighter and set on a less elevated crest. The colour, too, of these antelopes tends in many cases to purple, with white markings. From the hartebeest the gnus (fig. 6) differ by their smooth and outwardly or downwardly directed horns, broad bristly muzzles, heavy manes and long horse-like tails. There are two chief types, the white-tailed gnu or black wildebeest (_Connochaetes gnu_) of South Africa, now nearly extinct (fig. 6), and the brindled gnu, or blue wildebeest (_C. taurinus_), which, with some local variation, has a large range in South and East Africa.

In concluding this survey of living antelopes, reference may be made to the subfamily _Rupicaprinae_ (typified by the European chamois), the members of which, as already stated, are in some respects intermediate between antelopes and goats. They are all small or medium-sized mountain ruminants, for the most part European and Asiatic, but with one North American representative. They are heavily built ruminants, with horns of nearly equal size in both sexes, short tapering tails, large hoofs, narrow goat-like upper molars, and usually small face-glands. The horns are generally rather small, upright, ringed at the base, and more or less curved backwards, but in the takin they are gnu-like. The group is represented by the European chamois or gemse (_Rupicapra tragus_ or _R. rupicapra_), broadly distinguished by its well-known hook-like horns, and the Asiatic gorals (_Urotragus_) and serows (_Nemorhaedus_), which are represented by numerous species ranging from Tibet, the Himalaya, and China, to the Malay Peninsula and islands, being in the two latter areas the sole representatives of both antelopes and goats. In the structure of its horns the North American white Rocky Mountain goat (_Oreamnus_) is very like a serow, from which it differs by its extremely short cannon-bones. In the latter respect this ruminant resembles the takin (_Budorcas_) of Tibet, which, as already mentioned, has horns recalling those of the white-tailed gnu. Possibly the Arctic musk-ox (_Ovibos_) may be connected with the takin by means of certain extinct ruminants, such as the North American Pleistocene _Euceratherium_ and the European Pliocene _Criotherium_ (see CHAMOIS, GORAL, SEROW, ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT and TAKIN).

_Extinct Antelopes._--Only a few lines can be devoted to extinct antelopes, the earliest of which apparently date from the European Miocene. An antelope from the Lower Pliocene of Northern India known as _Bubalis_, or _Damaliscus, palaeindicus_ indicates the occurrence of the hartebeest group in that country. _Cobus_ also occurs in the same formation, as does likewise _Hippotragus_. _Palaeoryx_ from the corresponding horizon in Greece and Samos is to some extent intermediate between _Hippotragus_ and _Oryx_. Gazelles are common in the Miocene and Pliocene of both Europe and Asia. Elands and kudus appear to have been represented in India during the Pliocene; the European _Palaeoreas_ of the same age seems to be intermediate between the two, while _Protragelaphus_ is evidently another European representative of the group. _Helicophora_ is another spiral-horned European Pliocene antelope, but of somewhat doubtful affinity; the same being the case with the large _Criotherium_ of the Samos Pliocene, in which the short horns are curiously twisted. As already stated, there is a possibility of this latter ruminant being allied both to the takin and the musk-ox. _Palaeotragus_ and _Tragoceros_, of the Lower Pliocene of Greece, at one time regarded as antelopes, are now known to be ancestors of the okapi.

For antelopes in general, see P.L. Sclater and O. Thomas, _The Book of
Antelopes_ (4 vols., London, 1894-1900). (R. L.*)

ANTEMNAE (Lat. _ante amnem_, sc. _Anienem_; Varro, _Ling. Lat_. v. 28), an ancient village of Latium, situated on the W. of the Via Salaria, 2 m. N. of Rome, where the Anio falls into the Tiber. It is said to have been conquered by Romulus after the rape of the Sabine women, and to have assisted the Tarquins. Certainly it soon lost its independence, and in Strabo's time was a mere village. The site is one of great strength, and is now occupied by a fort, in the construction of which traces of the outer walls and of huts, and several wells and a cistern, all belonging to the primitive village, were discovered, and also the remains of a villa of the end of the Republic.

See T. Ashby in _Papers of the British School at Rome_, iii. 14.