86 JUNGLE ISLAND 



the second trial the termite was often caught and 

 probably eaten. 



When I looked at the log again two days later, 

 all was quiet again. The termites were estab- 

 lished in one small part of the log, leaving most 

 of the galleries to the ants. When a few ants 

 were picked up and dropped among the termites, 

 they immediately made their escape. I took two 

 soldier termites with squirt guns on their foreheads 

 and dropped them into ant country. They moved 

 slowly while ants came rushing up, darting forward 

 and backing off, clashing their huge jaws. 



Seven or eight ants, each one five times as large 

 as the termites, came within an inch or two of 

 the termite soldiers, who had cHmbed on slightly 

 raised places in the rotten wood and stood there 

 about two inches apart, facing the enemy first 

 in one direction and then in another. The ant 

 confronted at the time would usually drop back, 

 and, though I could not see the termite squirt 

 guns working, I could tell that the ant had been 

 hit by something, for he backed off wiping his 

 feelers. 



After much running in and backing out, one 

 ant finally dashed at the side of a termite, bit, 

 and ran. Another ant repeated the same tactics, 

 and the termite rolled off his Httle hill and lay 

 still. The second termite soldier was killed by 

 the same side attacks. After the two Httle 

 invaders were safely dead the ants passing them 



