A NATURALIST IN BRAZIL 



order to be carried along, mimics the ant by the carriage of its 

 abdomen, so that the inquiring antennae follow the same outline 



as that presented by the ant's own body. But the 

 finest mimic among these ant-resembling beetles 

 is the Mimeciton (Fig. 30) ; it is, indeed, one of 

 the most remarkable mimics in the insect world. 

 This beetle has an egg-shaped abdomen, which, 

 as is usual in the Ants but not in the Beetles, is 

 connected with the thorax by a narrow bridge. 

 The thorax too is like that of an ant, and even 



1G.30.— im ci , j^ head and antennae are equally ant-like. No 

 a Beetle which ^ . 



mimics an Ant. one who saw this insect for the first time would 



{After Wasmann, en- imagine that it was a beetle. The Mimeciton is 



^''^^^ a thoroughgoing parasite; it has a covering of 



hairs which exude a sweet juice, and it knows how to beg for food 



with its antennae. Only its rust-red colour distinguishes it from the 



shiny black ant, but in the latter the sense of sight has almost 



completely disappeared. 



This example shows that the mimicry of the ants' guests is not 



adopted with a view to the birds that catch the insects which flee 



before the advancing columns of ants. The guests need protection 



only from their hosts, for these form a living wall that protects all 



those creatures that take part in their predatory expeditions, or are 



merely fed by them. 



Another singular chapter of the lives of the Brazilian ants is that 

 which deals with the relations of the ants 

 to the plants of Brazil. 



Far above the ground, in the boughs of 

 the Brazilian trees, and especially in the 

 inundation areas of the Amazon basin, 

 anchored in the forks of the branches, 

 which have apparently grown through 

 them, are lumps of earth, overgrown by 

 epiphytic plants (Fig. 31). These veritable 

 hanging gardens are of varying sizes, but Fig. 3 1 . — Ant-garden on the 

 some are as large as a man's head. It branch of a tree. {After Ule, 

 has been discovered that these lumps of ^^ ^ ) 

 earth, with their epiphytic plants, are ant-gardens. The so-called 

 Aztec ants are the insects which carry the earth up the trees, sow 

 318 



