ENSANAFU ANTS 277 



him getting them, from a safe distance ! The adult 

 male has been elsewhere alluded to in connection with 

 signs of the weather. The worker Dorylus are often 

 seen travelling swiftly in a column several ants wide, 

 in a very orderly manner : hence the name Safari ant. 

 They prefer a sheltered route among and under leaves 

 or dense grass, but where they must cross an open smooth 

 area such as a well trodden path, they sometimes make 

 a tunnel for at least part of the way beneath the surface, 

 or a deep furrow. At other times, however, they protect 

 the travellers by forming a line on each side of the track, 

 the ants standing high on their legs with mandibles 

 wide agape as if seeking for something to bite. These 

 guardians are so intertwined that they make a living 

 wall which often bridges right across the ceaseless stream 

 hurrying below. If interfered with, or disturbed by 

 the tramp of a foot shaking the ground, they break loose 

 and run about with menacing jaws, but do not go far, 

 and if nothing is met within a yard of the column 

 the guardians return and re-form the protective wall. 

 These columns of hurrying ants fill one with amazement 

 on account of the immense numbers of individuals. 



The first one I saw was crossing a road close to my 

 hut on the evening of July 18, 1910, and next morning 

 the stream was still showing no signs of abating. It 

 was about an inch wide, and 4-6 ants across. At noon 

 the ants were still pouring across the road in the same 

 direction, but by 5 p.m. those forming the protecting 

 walls had moved, and by sunset they had all gone across : 

 that is, for about twenty-four hours there had been a 

 continual stream, for there is no reason to suppose that 

 this column was exceptional, and had ceased to move 

 when night fell. 



This column was apparently changing camp, for nearly 

 every ant carried a naked white pupa, although it is a 

 curious fact that not a single larva was seen in the pro- 



