155 



The long flexible body is bent at the same time in a circle to insert 

 the sting at the unprotected point where the be -tie's ^trong armour is 

 open The poison takes effect instantly ; the beetle ceases to struggle, 

 and with its legs twitching feebly is carried away in the jaws of its 

 captor. As with many other insects when stung by wasps, ihe paralysis 

 is permanent ; even when taken away from th" ants the beetles do not 

 recover. The adroit and business-like manner in which the beetle is 

 disposed of, in very much less time than even the briefest account of 

 the operation could be read, seems to prove beyond question that the 

 &nt is by structure and by instinct especially f quipped for the work 

 of destruction, and is, iu short, the true explanation of the fact that cot- 

 ton is successfully cultivated by the Indians of Alta Vera Paz in spite 

 of the presence of the boll weevil. Instead of congregating in large 

 numbers 'on the cotton in the immediate vicinity of their nests the ants 

 have, as it were, the good sense to spread themslves tnrough the field, 

 from two to four or five usually being found doing inspection duty on 

 each plant In some places there seemed to be not enough ants to go 

 around, and here the beetles were more numerous Rarely, too, cer- 

 tain flowers or branches seemed to have been overlooked, beetles being 

 found on the same plants with the an»s. In such instances, indeed, 

 the young flower or boll was generally riddled with punctures as though 

 many beetles had availed themselves of a rare opportunity of feeding 

 undisturbed 



Cotton growing among the Indians is something of a s; ecial art, the 

 community being supplied by a few men aware, as it were, of the se- 

 crets of the business. They know nothing about the weevil and its 

 ravages, and ascribe such damage as occurs to other harmless insects, 

 or even to superstitious causes, such as the failure of the owner to ab- 

 stain from salt at t- e time of planting. The ant, however, is definitely 

 associated in their minds with cotton, and they do not expect to secure 

 a good crop unless these insects favour the plants with their presence. 

 Some of the Indians give the ant a special name, kelpp, not applied to 

 any other species ; but it is also referred to as " the animal of the cotton. 



In the neighbourhood of ^ecanquim, on the coffee estate of Messrs, 

 Champney & Co., where most of our observations have been made, the 

 ants are by no means widely distributed, and the cultivation of cotton 

 is confined to very narrow limits, where it is planted year after year in 

 closely adjacent places, or even on the same ground. In one instance 

 the same Indian has planted cotton on the same hillside 'or upward of 

 forty years, with no failure to secure a crop except in one year, as he 

 explained, when he was sick and did not sow ! Such facts preclude, of 

 course, any explanation based on the theory of temporary immunity 

 secured from burning over the land or by planting in a new place in 

 which the bee les have not bad time to cong-reffate. The cotton is 

 sowed in October or November, a very rainy part of the year, when 

 land can not be cleared by burning, and the weeds are pulled out and 

 thrown with the dead cornstalks and brush into piles, which would 

 protect the beetles rather than destroy them. The perennial tree cotton 

 also furnishes permanent breeding places, so that the conditions are 

 most favourable to the propagation of the beetles in large numbers. 

 The ants, however, are evidently able to hold them iu check, and thus per- 

 mit the regular cultivation of an annual variety of cotton by the Indian. 



