166 



apt to take tea or coiFee after a dinner of more solid food. Bats do a 

 serious amount of damage among fruit trees, and unless it is protected 

 fly away with all the best fruit. They also attack legumes, such as 

 Phaseoliis lunatus, by opening the pod when about half grown, always 

 from the dorsal side, and abstracting the tender seeds. These fruit 

 and seeds they carry to their feeding place or dining room, which 

 is generally the under side of some shady branch of a tree, where 

 they hang head downwards, their usual position while resting or 

 eating their food the debris, seeds, &c., &c., dropping upon the 

 ground below. 



The naturalist will at once see what a splendid arrangement the 

 habits of these animals afford for the distribution of species of plants, 

 and what an important factor is animal life, in the economy of the 

 forest. The writer has often seen seeds of trees in one of these 

 spots, which Avere known to grow not nearer than a mile from the 

 place where it was eaten ; and on the occasion of the last observation, 

 taken when in company with Dr. H. H. Eusby of New York then 

 on a visit to the Colony, Tea seeds were found ; while the nearest 

 plants from which they could have been gathered Avere fully four 

 hundred yards from the spot. 



Bats moreover select the best and SAveetest fruit, and there is 

 therefore a distribution of seeds by selection Avhich probably has an 

 important effect on the evolution of the special varieties Avhich arise. 



No. 31 — Life History of the Parasol Ant. 



The "Parasol" Ant. 



Atta ( (Ecodoma ) cephalotes., Latr. 

 Atta ((Ecodoma) octospinosa., Beich. 



The destruction caused by various species of "Parasol Ant" in 

 the Western Tropics is a matter of very serious importance to the 

 Agricultural Industries. 



To any one but an eye-Avitness, the amount of damage they are 

 capable of inflicting on groAving crops can scarcely be credited, and a 

 constant Avar has to be Avaged against them, Avhich forms a very 

 expensive item in the management of estates. 



The nests are found of all sizes from one occupying an area of 

 five or six thousand square feet, or niore, to one as small as a single 

 foot in diameter ; and the cost of destruction ranges accordingly from 

 some 50 cents to $30 per nest. The Parasol Ant is found from 

 Mexico doAvuAA'ards through central and the northern parts of South 

 America, Trinidad included. 



