INSECT LIFE IN INDIA. 



G83 



Another example of this group is one of the granary ants Holco- 



myrmex scabriceps (Fig. 85) which 

 builds its nests in the ground and 

 stores up grass and other seeds. 

 Quite large heaps of grain are collect- 

 ed by these Insects, these heaps being 



Fig. So.-Holcomyrmez scabriceps either used as food as they are or 

 A granary ant. (Pun- allowed to ferment, the ants feeding 

 i ab ) upon the sugar contained in the fer- 



menting mass. This ant is distributed irregularly throughout India 



from the Punjab to Cochin, but has not been recorded from Ceylon, 



Assam or Burma. 



The sub-family Dorylinse with large yellow-winged males and small 



'flattened yellow workers are 



carnivorous hunting ants as also 



are the Ponerince. The only 



exception to the carnivorous 



rule in the two sub-families is 



the ant Dorylus orientalis which 



has been reported as attacking 



potatoes and cornflour plants at Fio. 8$.—Dorylus orientalis. a vegetable- 



the Botanical Gardens in Cal- eatin g ant . 8 and 3 forms - 



,, t-i i i i (Botanical Gardens, Calcutta.) 



Ksutta. M. Forel, who has ' J 



identified the ant on several occasions, writes that it appears almost 



incredible that this ant should be the only vegetarian in the two 



sub-families. Fig. 86 shows the $ and $ forms. 



Some ants are in the habit of keeping Aphidce in their nests, which 



they use much as we use cows, sucking up the sugary secretions emitted 



by the blight. It is a common observation that when rose bushes and 



fruit trees are seen to bear blight upon their branches a procession of 



files of ants will be found crawling up the bushes or trees, their object 



being to suck up the sugary sap given out by the blight. 



Useful Hymenoptera. 



The Hymenoptera include several families containing species of 



direct benefit to man since they parasitise, and therefore tend to keep 



in check, various injurious pests both in the field and forest. It must 



however be borne in mind that the good is in some cases almost counter- 



