128 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Hymenoptera of the North-West Provinces of 

 India, I alluded to this insect as the born enemy of 

 wasps and hornets, but did not there enter into its 

 history, which I propose to do more fully in these 

 pages. It is known by the name of "mata" by 

 (he natives, and I used to call it the " yellow ant." 

 My first acquaintance with it was made when I was 

 in camp, and my tent happened to be pitched under 

 a mango-tree where was a nest of them. They 

 explored every chink and crevice in the tent, and if 

 by chance they were touched, they bit and stung 

 severely. In short, they were a perfect pest. 



When walking in a mango orchard one sometimes 

 sees what looks like a nest, or bundle of leaves 

 drawn together, like the appearance produced by 

 the work of the sociable caterpillars. It is 

 generally at the end of the bough. This is their 

 tree nest, for I have been assured by the natives 

 that they also have a nest in the ground under the 

 roots of the tree, although I could never find one. 

 Once, when I had many wasps' nests in my verandah, 

 and wished to get rid of them, I was recommended to 

 procure a nest of the " mata," and hang it up by the 

 wasp's nest. A native got one by cutting off the 

 end of the bough with the nest attached, and it was 

 soon fastened to the end of a long bamboo and set 

 up against the wall near a large nest of Polistes 

 hebrais, the " yellow] wasp " of the Europeans. On 

 leaving it there, a piece of thread was tied to it 

 reaching to the ground to enable the ants to re- 

 ascend to their home. 



Presently a wasp showed himself, when he was 

 set upon by three or four ants. They seized hold of 

 him anywhere, and, of course, all fell together from 

 the roof of the verandah to the floor of the same, 

 rolled about together for a few seconds in mortal 

 struggle, when the wasp was dead, and the ants on 

 their way home again by their ladder, the thread. 

 Thus they went on till not a wasp remained. They 

 will attack hornets in the same manner. On one 

 occasion I took a very fine nest of the large hornet 

 (Fespa indica) which I wished to set up for the 

 Queen's College Museum at Benares. I had smoked 

 out the nest, and killed all the full-grown insects 

 with gunpowder, and the comb I brought home. I 

 put the whole affair under a very large wire dish- 

 cover, and then added a small colony of these ants. 

 Next morning between fifty and sixty dead bodies 

 of young hornets, which had emerged from their 

 cells in the night under the cover, were found strewn 

 on the dish. This went on for a day or two, when I 

 let my useful assistants depart. They ran out, and 

 were soon ensconced amidst the leaves of the 

 elephant creeper {Argyreia speciosa) which covered 

 the verandah. 



As before observed, I had often seen their nests 

 in the trees ; I was now to see how they were con- 

 structed, and will therefore make an extract from 

 my note-book. "August 22, 1863, Benares.— The 



nest taken to kill the hornets having been broken, 

 the ants ran out and looked about for suitable 

 quarters for new nests, and very soon had three or 

 four ready. The sight was a curious one. Here 

 is a leaf of the elephant creeper, being seven 

 inches long, five inches wide, and thick in propor- 

 tion. Here are nine ants pulling over the points of 

 the leaf. And here is the third stage, viz., ten ants 

 are pulling up the sides of the said leaf to make a 

 snug abode. Thus they held it with all their might, 

 standing on their hind legs, till others fastened it 

 all together as they wished, apparently, by some 

 viscous fluid which seemed to issue from their 

 mouths as they passed their heads backwards and 

 forwards, and this hardened into a kind of strong 

 white silk. It then looked as though the edges had 

 been very closely laced together, leaving only an 

 entrance. Then commenced the busy scene of the 

 ants carrying their young to their new homes, of 

 which, within three hours, no less than five were 

 ready. Some of these consisted of several leaves 

 drawn together by their edges, all being similarly 

 secured with silk. I could detect no signs of a 

 queen, although, of course, there must have been 

 some female somewhere. 



" There only seemed to be two classes, one of a 

 very small size, and few in number, with small nip- 

 pers, and another more numerous, with enormous 

 nippers, very active and brave, ever ready to stand 

 on their hind legs and fight every assailant. These 

 also, or others so like them, as to be to an un- 

 practised eye undistinguishable, appear to tend the 

 young with great care, feeding them from their own 

 mouths. These warriors often lost their heads in 

 the encounters with the hornets, for they would fly 

 at a leg, and, grasping it with their nippers, which 

 are constructed to cross each other, they never let 

 go, and, if within reach, the hornet easily bit off 

 the head, which then remained attached to the leg 

 till the death of the carrier. This also occurred 

 in their mutual fights. 



" The orderly way in which these ants worked was 

 very wonderful. Who told off their gangs of men 

 for each leaf? Had they many chiefs? And how 

 did they settle how many should go. to each nest ? 

 In all this the hand of God is apparent, who in 

 His providence provides for the meanest of His 

 creatures. In the mango-trees they often draw 

 twenty or thirty leaves together, when much silk is 

 used ; and I have closely-woven specimens several 

 inches square. This silk is very much stronger than 

 any spider's web, and is the only silken fabric I 

 have ever seen which was made by ants. 



" In some nests which I examined I found larva? in 

 different stages attached by a glutinous substance 

 to the surface of the leaf, and I also found them 

 being carried about by other ants for an airing, and 

 being fed from the mouths of the carriers and 

 others. The winged males of this species often fly 



