OUR SIX-FOOTED RIVALS. 351 



Nor are the purely vegetarian ants of less importance in the econ- 

 omy of the countries they inhabit. They decide, in a manner, what 

 trees shall grow and what shall be exterminated, and it is only such 

 as are comparatively distasteful to them that escape. In Nicaragua, 

 they render the acclimatization of any foreign tree or vegetable a task 

 of great difficulty. Mr. Belt was often told, on asking the reason 

 why no fruit-trees were grown at certain places : " It is of no use 

 planting them; the ants eat them up." These ants climb up the 

 trees, when " each one, stationing itself on the edge of a leaf, com- 

 mences to make a circular cut from the edge with its scissor-like jaws, 

 its hinder feet being the centre on which it turns. When the piece is 

 nearly cut off, it is still stationed upon it, and it looks as though it 

 would fall to the ground with it ; but, on being finally detached, the 

 ant is generally found to have hold of the leaf with one foot, and, 

 soon righting itself and arranging its burden to its satisfaction, it sets 

 off at once on its return." 



An observer, standing near the ant-hills, " sees from every point 

 of the compass ant-paths leading to them, all thronged with the busy 

 workers carrying their leafy burdens. As far as the eye can dis- 

 tinguish their tiny forms, troops upon troops of leaves are moving 

 up toward the central point and disappearing down the numerous 

 tunneled passages. The ceaseless toiling hosts impress one with their 

 power, and one asks, ' What forests can stand before such invaders ?' : 

 Concerning the use to which the ant-leaves are put, some difference of 

 opinion prevails; that they do not directly serve as food is admitted. 

 Mr. Bates, from observations made in Brazil, concludes that "the 

 leaves are used to thatch the domes which cover the entrances to 

 their subterranean dwellings, thereby protecting from the deluging 

 rains the young brood in the nests beneath." Mr. Belt, who has care- 

 fully examined the habits of an allied species in Nicaragua, believes 

 that the real use they make of them is as a manure, on which grows 

 a minute species of fungus on which they feed that they are, in 

 reality, mushroom growers and eaters. The reasons for this view are 

 given in detail in Mr. Belt's work, and appear very satisfactory. But 

 Mr. Bates's view may be correct also. In short, save man alone, there 

 is no creature which can effect such wide-spread and profound alter- 

 ations in the condition of a country as the tiny ant. It has been in- 

 deed mentioned in the Quarterly Journal of Science that the pig, the 

 goat, and the rabbit, have succeeded in extirpating the natural flora, 

 and consequently, to a great extent, the fauna, of certain islands, such 

 as St. Helena. Yet this takes place only in countries where there are 

 no carnivorous beasts, birds, and reptiles, to keep them in check. But 

 in every warm and fruitful climate the ant is king. This power, we 

 perceive, is not due to mere numbers ; it is, in great part, the result 

 of organization. Other species of insects are perhaps even more nu- 

 merous, and, individually considered, as capable of destructive action ; 



